Alcohol as a Processing Solvent of Polymeric Semiconductors to Fabricate Environmentally Benign and High Performance Polymer Field Effect Transistors.

Here, a novel strategy is reported to develop polymer field effect transistors using ethanol, propanol, and butanol-the most environmentally benign solvent except water-as processing solvents. From such environmentally benign processes, for the first time high-mobility (>1 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹) polymer field effect transistors are demonstrated. These mobility values realized from 'really green solvents' exceed those of conventional hydrogenated amorphous silicon semiconductors. To achieve this 1) stable sub-microparticles of conjugated polymers dispersed in alcohols are fabricated, 2) an aldehyde-assisted surface tension-depression methodology is developed to successfully form thin films from alcohol, and 3) the structural information of alcohol-dispersed sub-microparticles of semiconducting polymers is carefully characterized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]