Transformation from Nanofibers to Nanoribbons in Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Solution by Adding Alkylthiols

Shuang Pan, Mingjing Zhu, Luze He, Hongdong Zhang, Feng Qiu, Zhiqun Lin, Juan Peng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

An intriguing morphological transition from poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) 1D nanofibers to 2D nanoribbons enabled by the addition of a series of alkylthiols is reported. First, P3HT 1D nanofibers are formed due to strong anisotropic π–π stacking between planar rigid backbones. Upon the addition of alkylthiols, P3HT nanofibers are transformed into nanoribbons associated with the crystallographic transition from edge-on orientation to flat-on orientation. The content of alkylthiols has a great influence on the P3HT morphology in the solution. The mechanism of such a morphological transformation is discussed based on the interaction between alkylthiols and P3HT chains. This work offers an effective strategy to tailor the crystal morphology and dimension of P3HT, which not only improves the understanding of P3HT crystallization but also may enable such discovery into conjugated polymer-based optoelectronic devices.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1800048
JournalMacromolecular Rapid Communications
Volume39
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Keywords

  • conjugated polymers
  • crystal structures
  • nanoribbons
  • polythiophene
  • transitions

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