Donor-Acceptor Copolymer with a Linear Backbone Induced Ordered and Robust Doping Morphology for Efficient and Stable Organic Electrochemical Devices.

Abstract

Donor (D)-acceptor (A) copolymer-based organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) exhibit intrinsic environmental stability for they have tailored energy levels. However, their figure-of-merit (μC*) is still falling behind the D-D polymers because of morphology deterioration during the electrochemical doping process. Herein, we developed two D-A copolymers with precisely regulated backbone curvature, namely PTBT-P and PTTBT-P. Compared to the curved PTBT-P and previously reported copolymers, PTTBT-P better keeps its backbone linear, leading to a long-range ordered doping morphology, which is revealed by the in operando X-ray technique. This optimized doping morphology enables a significantly improved operando charge mobility (μ) of 2.44 cm2 V-1 s-1 and a μC* value of 342 F cm-1 V-1 s-1, one of the highest values in D-A copolymer based on OECTs. Besides, we fabricated PTTBT-P-based electrochemical random-access memories and achieved ideal and robust conductance modulation. This study highlights the critical role of backbone curvature control in the optimization of doping morphology for efficient and robust organic electrochemical devices.