"Living" conjugated polymers: a new approach in engineering of complex materials for needs of organic electronics

• Applicant: Dr. Anton Kiriy
• Subject Area: Preparatory and Physical Chemistry of Polymers
• Term: from 2009 to 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 125992096

Semi-conducting polymers are highly promising and potentially low cost materials for polymer solar cells, organic light emitting diodes or organic field-effect transistors. State-of-the-art polymer chemistry does not fully satisfy requirements in divers and complex conjugated materials that need to be fulfilled for the application in organic electronic devices. In order to achieve higher efficiencies and also to enhance reproducibility of materials and device properties, conjugated polymers must have a controllable structure and chain topology. The synthesis of well-defined conjugated block copolymers (BCP) is currently seen as one of the most promising approach to control morphology of the active layer in all-polymer organic photovoltaic devices. This projects aims at synthesizing all-conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers by sequential living Kumada polycondensation of either diketopyrrolopyrrole- and isoindigo-based acceptor monomers and thiophene-based donor monomers. These tasks will be realized through detailed mechanistic investigations and judicious optimization of the polymerization conditions. The self-assembly (i.e., phase-segregation and crystallization behavior) and the optoelectronic properties of the obtained copolymers will be extensively investigated, and the perspectives of their use in optoelectronic devices will finally be tested.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants