A universal and facile approach for building multifunctional conjugated polymers for human-integrated electronics

Summary Polymer semiconductors have shown distinct promise for the development of human-integrated electronics, owing to their solution processability and mechanical softness. However, numerous functional properties required for this application domain face synthetic challenges to being conveyed onto conjugated polymers and thus combined with efficient charge-transport properties. Here, we develop a “click-to-polymer” (CLIP) synthesis strategy for conjugated polymers, which uses a click reaction for the facile and versatile attachment of diverse types of functional units to a pre-synthesized conjugated-polymer precursor. With four types of functional groups, we show that functionalized polymers from this CLIP method can still retain good charge-carrier mobility. We take two realized polymers to showcase a photopatternable property and a biochemical sensing function, both of which advance the state of the art of realizing these two types of functions on conjugated polymers. We expect that the expanded use of this synthesis approach can largely enrich the functional properties of conjugated polymers.