Amphiphilic Poly(3-hexylthiophene)-Based SemiconductingCopolymers for Printing of Polyelectrolyte-Gated Organic Field-EffectTransistors.

Polyelectrolytes are promising electronicallyinsulating layers for low-voltage organic field effect transistors.However, the polyelectrolyte–semiconductor interface is difficultto manufacture due to challenges in wettability. We introduce an amphiphilicsemiconducting copolymer which, when spread as a thin film, can changeits surface from hydrophobic to hydrophilic upon exposure to water.This peculiar wettability is exploited in the fabrication of polyelectrolyte-gatedfield-effect transistors operating below 0.5 V. The prepared amphiphilicsemiconducting copolymer is based on a hydrophobic regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT) covalently linked to a hydrophilic poly(sulfonated)-based randomblock. Such a copolymer is obtained in a three-step strategy combiningGrignard metathesis (GRIM), atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP)processes, and a postmodification method. The structure of the diblockcopolymer was characterized using FT-IR, 1H NMR spectroscopy,and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]