Structural and Electronic Properties of Pristine and Doped Polythiophene: Periodic versus Molecular Calculations

Based on density functional theory calculations, the structural and electronic properties of polythiophene in periodic and oligomer forms have been investigated. In particular, the effects of Li or Cl adsorption onto a monolayer and Li or Cl intercalation into bulk or bilayer polythiophene are addressed using periodic calculations. The binding energy of Li or Cl adsorbed bulk or bilayer polythiophene is significantly larger than for the monolayer. The trends in the binding energy as a function of adsorbent remain the same for both the periodic and molecular cases. The band gap or HOMO–LUMO gap and charge transfer are analyzed. In addition, for the bulk or bilayer, different kinds of stacking have been considered. It is found that the parallel bulk or bilayer structure is energetically favorable compared to flipping the second layer by 180°. This has been considered for both the periodic and oligomer forms. Moreover, for Li adsorption, polarons are found to be more stable than bipolarons, while the situation is opposite for Cl adsorption. The detailed analysis of the present study will be useful for understanding the structural properties and the tuneability of the electronic states, which is an important step to construct polythiophene-based electronic devices.