Charge Transport in Poly(3-butylthiophene) Nanowires and Their Nanocomposites with an Insulating Polymer

Abstract

Self-assembled crystalline nanowires (NWs) of poly(3-butylthiophene) (P3BT), having an average width of 11.8 nm and aspect ratios of ∼330–850, and their nanocomposites with insulating polystyrene (PS) were found to have a high field-effect mobility of holes and a high dc conductivity. The intra-nanowire carrier mobility in the P3BT-NW/PS nanocomposites can be as high as 0.2 cm2 V–1 s–1, which is significantly enhanced compared to films of pure P3BT NWs. Nanocomposites of P3BT NWs with polystyrene were found to support high carrier densities (1017–1018 cm–3) with high mobility of holes, facilitating the development of high performance field-effect transistors. The observed high carrier mobility and high conductivity in the nanocomposites were explained by the rather low percolation threshold (0.5 wt % P3BT NWs).