Synthesis of low band gap polymers based on pyrrolo[3,2-d:4,5-d′]bisthiazole (PBTz) and thienylenevinylene (TV) for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs)

New low band gap copolymers P1–P4, based on thienylenevinylene (TV) and pyrrolo[3,2-d:4,5-d′]bisthiazole (PBTz) units composed of different alkyl side chains, such as 2-octyldodecyl (OD), n-hexadecyl (HD), 2-ethylhexyl (EH), and 9-heptadecyl (HD) groups, respectively, have been synthesized and characterized. Electrochemical and optical studies of the copolymers indicated low energy band gaps in the range of 1.40–1.47 eV. Moreover, theoretical calculation with density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations demonstrated that the energy band gaps, HOMO energy levels and maximum absorption values in the copolymers were in good agreement with the experimental results. The decomposition temperature of all copolymers was measured to be above 340 °C by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), which indicates high thermal stability. Thermally annealed OTFT devices based on P1–P4 thin films demonstrated a range of hole mobilities; thus, the P2 based OTFT device exhibited the highest hole mobility of 0.062 cm2 V−1 s−1.