Investigation of Orientation in the Thin Films of Conjugated Polymer and NIR Dye Blends Fabricated by Friction Transfer Method

Improved film's crystallinity and facile charge transport has been well demonstrated by orienting conjugated polymers using solution based thin film fabrication followed by thermal annealing, need for huge halogenated solvents and high temperature annealing are stumbling block for industrially viable large area thin film fabrication. Herein, we report the fabrication of oriented thin films regioregular P3HT by solvent-free friction transfer (FT) technique and enhancement its further enhancement by adding NIR sensitive squaraine dyes. Apart from assisting the molecular orientation of P3HT, it has been demonstrated that dye molecules are also get oriented and a synergistic match between the alkyl chains of the polymer and dye molecule leads to promotion for the extent of the molecular orientation in the dye molecules.