Abstract In this paper scanning near‐field microscopy is used to characterize polymer blends for photovoltaic applications, and fluorescence imaging and photoconductivity are combined to elucidate the spatial distribution and relative efficiency of current generation and photoluminescence in different domains of compositionally heterogeneous films. Focus is placed on a binary system consisting of poly[(9,9‐dioctylfluorene)‐ alt ‐benzothiadiazole] (F8BT) and poly[(9,9‐dioctylfluorene)‐ alt ‐(bis( N , N ′‐(4‐butylphenyl))‐bis( N , N ′‐phenyl‐1,4‐phenylenediamine))] (PFB), spun from xylene solutions, so as to obtain phase separation on micrometer and nanometer length scales. Protruding regions with diameters of about 5 μm in the topography image coincide with regions of high photocurrent (PC) and luminescence; these regions are identified as being F8BT‐rich. A general method to estimate the photoluminescence efficiency in the different domains of phase‐separated blends is proposed. As expected, lack of enhancement of the PC signal at the boundaries between protruding and lower‐lying phases indicate that these microscale boundaries play a small role in the charge generation by exciton splitting. This is consistent with the domains compositional inhomogeneity, and thus with finer phase separation within the domains. We also provide an analysis of the extent to which the metallized probe perturbs the near‐field photocurrent signal by integrating Poisson's equation. Finally, by using a Bethe–Bouwkamp model, the energy absorbed by the polymer film in the different regions is estimated.
Indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates were modified with a layer of poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers to change their surface properties and, in particular, the substrates' work function. The functionalization procedure involved the electrostatic adsorption of positively charged PAMAM dendrimers of generation five onto negatively polarized ITO surfaces. Three different PAMAM dendrimers were used: PAMAM-NH2 and PAMAM-OH with terminal amine and hydroxyl groups, respectively, as well as Q-PAMAM-NH2, which had been prepared from PAMAM-NH2 by quaternization of the dendrimer's terminal and internal amine groups with methyl iodide. The resulting organic films were analyzed by contact angle goniometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and Kelvin probe force microscopy to confirm the presence of a dense layer. A Langmuir isotherm was derived from surface densities of fluorescence-labeled PAMAM-NH2 dendrimers from which we deduced an equilibrium binding constant, Keq, of (1.3 ± 0.3) × 105 M-1. Kelvin probe measurements of the contact potential difference revealed a high reduction of the work function from 4.9 eV for bare ITO to 4.3 eV for ITO with a dense film of PAMAM-NH2 of generation five. PAMAM-OH and Q-PAMAM-NH2 resulted in slightly smaller work function changes. This study illustrates that the work function of ITO can be tuned by adlayers composed of PAMAM dendrimers.
Highly oriented luminescent films are produced by stretching a 30-μm-thick polyvinyl alcohol matrix doped with water-soluble polyrotaxanes and their unthreaded analogues. Photoluminescence experiments reveal that over 95% of the emitted light is polarized along the orientation direction. A hybrid organic–inorganic light-emitting diode is built to investigate the possibility of using these films as polarizing filters for solid-state lighting and display technology.
Abstract Near‐infrared (NIR) polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) based on a fluorene–dioctyloxyphenylene wide‐gap host material copolymerized with a low‐gap emitter are presented. Various loadings (1, 2.5, 10, 20 mol%) of the low‐gap emitter are studied, with higher loadings leading to decreased efficiencies likely due to aggregation effects. While the 10 mol% loading resulted in almost pure NIR emission (>99.6%), the 1 mol% loading yielded optimum device performance, which is among the best reported to date for a unblended single‐layer pure polymer emitter, with an external quantum efficiencies of 0.04% emitting at 909 nm. The high spectral purity of the PLEDs combined with their performance support the methodology of copolymerization as an effective strategy for developing NIR PLEDs. magnified image
In this review, we summarise methods towards achieving 10 Mb/s connectivity for visible light communications links utilising organic polymer based light-emitting diodes as the transmitter. We present two different methods; on-off keying supported by least mean squares equalisation and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing without equalisation.
Abstract Hydrophilic polyanionic conjugated polyrotaxanes are readily synthesized in water by Suzuki coupling, but their high polarity and ionic nature limit the potential applications of these materials. Here, we demonstrate three methods for transforming these polar polyelectrolytes into nonpolar lipophilic insulated molecular wires. A water‐soluble polyfluorene‐ alt ‐biphenylene β‐cyclodextrin (CD) polyrotaxane was converted into nonpolar derivatives by methylation of the carboxylic acid groups with diazomethane and conversion of the hydroxyl groups of the CDs to benzyl ethers, trihexylsilyl ethers, benzoyl esters, and butanoate esters to yield polyrotaxanes that are soluble in organic solvents such as chloroform and cyclohexane. Elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) data support the proposed structures of the organic‐soluble polyrotaxanes. The extents of reaction of the polyrotaxane CD hydroxyl groups were 55% for trihexylsilyl chloride/imidazole; 81% for benzyl chloride/sodium hydride; 72% for benzoyl chloride/pyridine/4‐dimethylaminopyridine; and 98% butanoic anhydride/pyridine/4‐dimethylaminopyridine. Alkylation, silylation, and esterification increase the bulk of the encapsulating sheath, preventing interstrand aggregation, increasing the photoluminescence efficiency in the solid state and simplifying the time‐resolved fluorescence decay. The organic‐soluble polyrotaxanes were processed into polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) from solution in nonpolar organic solvents, thereby excluding ionic impurities from the active layer.
We describe the formation of ordered phase-segregated domains at the hundred nm scale in thin films prepared from two molecular systems of interest as active materials in light-emitting electrochemical cells, i.e. the ion-transport polymer poly(ethylene oxide), PEO, and the well-known electron-transport macromolecule poly(9,9′-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole), F8BT. Scanning force microscopy investigations revealed signs indicative of self-organization processes taking place during film deposition, and characterized by the formation of PEO crystalline lamellae arranged either face-on or as intertwined fibres assembled in an edge-on fashion surrounding large and disordered F8BT grains. This self-segregated architecture, prepared by a single step co-deposition of the two components from a chloroform solution, provides unambiguous evidence for the poor miscibility of the two polymers. Fluorescence titration studies in solution and measurements of the photoluminescence quantum efficiency of thin solid state films showed little change of the optical properties upon addition of PEO to F8BT, thus confirming the modest interaction, at the molecular level, between the PEO and F8BT macromolecular strands. The results obtained are significant to the understanding of the parameters contributing to the interfacial and intermolecular interactions.
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