The Influence of Side-Chain Position on the Optoelectronic Properties of a Red-Emitting Conjugated Polymer

Li Ping Lu, Christopher Edward Finlayson, Dinesh Kabra, Sebastian Albert-Seifried, Myoung Hoon Song, Remco W. A. Havenith, Guoli Tu, Wilhelm T. S. Huck, R.H. Friend

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A study of the organic semiconductor F8TBT is presented, directly comparing a conventional form (F8TBT-out) with a form with varied alkyl side-chain position (F8TBT-in), in terms of optical properties and device performance in light-emitting-diodes (LEDs). Computational simulations of the side-chain position with respect to the TBT unit reveal geometrical differences between F8TBT-out and F8TBT-in. π–π conjugation on the backbone of F8TBT-in is interrupted by a distortion of the benzothiadiazole ring, leading to a blue-shift of the absorption spectrum and increased photoluminescence quantum efficiency. Both conventional and hybrid LEDs demonstrate that devices with F8TBT-in show improved performance, as compared to F8TBT-out, illustrating how tuning the optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers by varying the placement of side chains has an important role in device optimization.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)967–974
Number of pages8
JournalMacromolecular Chemistry and Physics
Volume214
Issue number9
Early online date13 Mar 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 May 2013

Keywords

  • conjugated polymers
  • light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
  • organic electronics

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