Preparation and application of polystyrene-grafted alumina core-shell nanoparticles for dielectric surface passivation in solution-processed polymer thin film transistors

Abstract

Abstract Polystyrene-grafted alumina nanoparticles were synthesized by silane coupling between dimethylchlorosilane-terminated polystyrene (PS) and gamma-type alumina nanoparticles and characterized. The surface grafting density of the polystyrene chains on the nanoparticles was estimated to be 0.13 molecules per square nanometer. The Al2O3-PS nanoparticles are solution processable in organic solvents, including ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, and toluene, which enabled preparation of blends with polystyrene or poly (methyl methacrylate). The dielectric constant of the Al2O3-PS nanoparticle/polymer blend films is composition tunable from 2.59 to 7.79. The alumina-PS nanoparticles and their blends with polymers were found to form efficient surface passivation films on the oxide dielectric layer in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs).