Relating chemical structure to device performance via morphology control in diketopyrrolopyrrole-based low band gap polymers

We investigated the structure-morphology-performance relationship of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based low band gap polymers with different donor cores in organic field effect transistors (OFETs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). The change in the chemical structure led to strong physical property differences, such as crystalline behavior, blend morphology, and device performance. In addition, the choice of solvents and additives enabled one to fine tune the properties of these materials in the condensed state. For instance, when thin films were processed from solvent mixtures, both in the pure polymer and in a blend, we observed an enhanced edge-on orientation and the formation of thinner and longer polymer fibrils. In the BHJ blends, processing from a solvent mixture reduced the size scale of the phase separation and promoted the formation of a fibrillar network morphology, having a polymer-PCBM mixture filling the interfibrillar regions. The characteristic length scale of the fibrillar network dictated the specific inner surface area, which directly correlated to the performance in the OPV devices. When the BHJ mixture was processed from a single solvent, a large-scale phase separated morphology was observed that was stratified, normal to the film surface. A strong scattering anisotropy was observed in the resonant soft X-ray scattering of the blends that provided insight into the packing of the polymer chains within the fibrils. The morphology and performance trend in OPVs paralleled the performance in an OFET, suggesting that similar processing conditions should be considered in OFET fabrication.