Polymer defect engineering – conductive 2D organic platelets from precise thiophene-doped polyethylene

Oksana Suraeva,Frederik R Wurm,Kamal Asadi,Katharina Landfester,Ingo Lieberwirth,Beomjin Jeong

doi:10.1039/d1py00117e

Abstract

Synthesis and crystallization of polyethylene with precisely positioned thiophene groups were used to produce polymer crystals with a conductive surface.

Highlights

Conductive polymers combine the mechanical advantages of polymers with the electronic properties of metals and semiconductors, which makes them valuable in the electronics and optical industries.[1,2,3] Some of the most common organic molecules to obtain conductive materials are thiophene and its derivatives, because of their good electrical and chemical properties and environmental stability.[4]
Monomer TH20-m (0.7 g, 1.80 mmol, 1 eq.) or monomer TH38-m (0.6 g, 1.026 mmol, 1 eq.) was charged into a flamedried 25 mL flask in CH2Cl2 (2 mL) and the solution was stirred for 5 min at room temperature under argon
The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and the catalyst was terminated by adding ethyl vinyl ether (1 mL in 2 mL of CH2Cl2), followed by 30 min stirring at room temperature

Summary

Introduction

Conductive polymers combine the mechanical advantages of polymers with the electronic properties of metals and semiconductors, which makes them valuable in the electronics and optical industries.[1,2,3] Some of the most common organic molecules to obtain conductive materials are thiophene and its derivatives, because of their good electrical and chemical properties and environmental stability (both to oxygen and to moisture).[4] the conjugated backbone of un-substituted polythiophenes is typically rigid and results in poor processability.[5] To obtain control over the nanostructure and to increase the processability of thiophene containing materials, two different approaches have been described in the literature: the first approach utilizes the self-assembly of a polymer system to form a nanoscopic template.[6] Subsequently, a conductive polymer like polythiophene is grafted upon this template. The resulting nanostructures formed have a dielectric core, but the surfaces show only a partial conductivity. The other approach aims to generate a polymeric material with bulk conductivity first.[7]

Methods

Results

Conclusion