Morphology, Crystal Structure and Charge Transport in Donor-Acceptor Block Copolymer Thin Films.

We studied structure and charge transport properties of thin films of donor-acceptor block copolymers, poly(3-hexylthiophene-block-perylene bisimide acrylate), using a combination of X-ray scattering, AFM and vertical charge transport measurements in diode devices. Block copolymer self-assembly and crystallization of the individual components are interrelated and different structural states of the films could be prepared by varying preparation conditions and thermal history. Generally the well-defined microphase structures found previously in bulk could also be prepared in thin films, in addition alignment induced by interfacial interactions was observed.

Polymer crystallization as a tool to pattern hybrid nanostructures: growth of 12 nm ZnO arrays in poly(3-hexylthiophene).

Well-ordered hybrid materials with a 10 nm length scale are highly desired. We make use of the natural length scale (typically 10-15 nm) of the alternating crystalline and amorphous layers that are generally found in semicrystalline polymers to direct the growth of a semiconducting metal oxide. This approach is exemplified with the growth of ZnO within a carboxylic acid end-functionalized poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT-COOH).