Diketopyrrolopyrrole-based conjugated polymers synthesized by direct arylation polycondensation for anisole-processed high mobility organic thin-film transistors

Two conjugated polymers (CPs) Fu-F and Fu-Cl that are soluble in a green solvent anisole were successfully synthesized via direct arylation polycondensation (DArP) using a furan-flanked diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) derivative (FDPP-Br) as the C–Br monomer and (E)-1,2-bis(3,4-difluorothien-2-yl)ethene (4FTVT) or (E)-1,2-bis(3,4-dichlorothien-2-yl)ethene (4ClTVT) as the C–H monomer. With anisole as the processing solvent and polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE) as the electrode modification layer, n-type organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) of the polymers were fabricated via bar-coating. The electron mobility (μe) of the devices based on Fu-Cl was only in the magnitude of 10−2 cm2 V−1 s−1, owing to the unfavoured fine granular film morphology. In contrast, Fu-F films showed fibre-like morphology with the polymer chains aligned along the bar-coating direction, which is favourable for the charge transport in OTFTs. Therefore, Fu-F delivered much better device performance with the μe of up to 2.79 cm2 V−1 s−1. Our study demonstrates that green solvent processed high mobility CPs can be synthesized by DArP, an emerging eco-friendly protocol for the synthesis of CPs.