Distance-resilient conductivity in p-doped polythiophenes
Scalable organic electronic devices necessitate effective charge transport over long distances. We assess here the conductivity and its distance-resilience in doped polythiophene films with alkyl and oligoether side chains. We find that the polymers with oligoether side chains retain 80-90% of the c...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
25 August 2025
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| In: |
Materials Horizons
Year: 2025, Volume: 12, Issue: 24, Pages: 10827-10838 |
| ISSN: | 2051-6355 |
| DOI: | 10.1039/D5MH00620A |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5MH00620A Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/mh/d5mh00620a 
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| Author Notes: | Eva Röck, Demetra Tsokkou, Basil Hunger, Maximilian M. Horn, Sepideh Zokaei, Renee Kroon, Jesika Asatryan, Jaime Martín, Christian Müller, Martijn Kemerink and Natalie Banerji |
| Summary: | Scalable organic electronic devices necessitate effective charge transport over long distances. We assess here the conductivity and its distance-resilience in doped polythiophene films with alkyl and oligoether side chains. We find that the polymers with oligoether side chains retain 80-90% of the conductivity over five orders of magnitude in distance (from tens of nanometers to millimeters), when doped with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ). For P(g42T-T) co-processed with F4TCNQ, this leads to an over 100 times enhanced long-range conductivity (43 S cm−1) compared to doped poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT, 0.2 S cm−1). Optimization of the oligoether side chain length and doping protocol pushes the conductivity to 330 S cm−1. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of nanoscale terahertz conductivity data reveal that the local mobility of the doped P(g42T-T):F4TCNQ film benefits from a higher dielectric constant (reduced Coulomb binding to the ionized dopant) and from lower energetic disorder. Those benefits persist on the macroscopic scale, while spatial charge confinement and a lack of connectivity hinder the long-range transport of moderately doped P3HT:F4TCNQ. However, strongly doping P3HT using magic blue leads to enhanced conductivity with distance-resilience >80%. The distance-resilience is generalized for different polymer:dopant systems once a highly conductive regime (>30 S cm−1) is reached. This highlights an effective strategy to overcome limitations in terms of electrostatic binding and multi-scale polymer ordering, enhancing both the short-range and the long-range conductivity of doped conjugated polymers. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 28.01.2026 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2051-6355 |
| DOI: | 10.1039/D5MH00620A |