Jeon Jisoo, Tan Alvin T L, Lee Jaeyong, Park Jeong Eun, Won Sukyoung, Kim Sanha, Bedewy Mostafa, Go Jamison, Kim Jin Kon, Hart A John, Wie Jeong Jae
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea.
Program in Environmental and Polymer Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea.
ACS Nano. 2020 Dec 22;14(12):17254-17261. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c07268. Epub 2020 Nov 24.
Evaporative self-assembly of semiconducting polymers is a low-cost route to fabricating micrometer and nanoscale features for use in organic and flexible electronic devices. However, in most cases, rate is limited by the kinetics of solvent evaporation, and it is challenging to achieve uniformity over length- and time-scales that are compelling for manufacturing scale-up. In this study, we report high-throughput, continuous printing of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) by a modified doctor blading technique with oscillatory meniscus motion-meniscus-oscillated self-assembly (MOSA), which forms P3HT features ∼100 times faster than previously reported techniques. The meniscus is pinned to a roller, and the oscillatory meniscus motion of the roller generates repetitive cycles of contact-line formation and subsequent slip. The printed P3HT lines demonstrate reproducible and tailorable structures: nanometer scale thickness, micrometer scale width, submillimeter pattern intervals, and millimeter-to-centimeter scale coverage with highly defined boundaries. The line width as well as interval of P3HT patterns can be independently controlled by varying the polymer concentration levels and the rotation rate of the roller. Furthermore, grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) reveals that this dynamic meniscus control technique dramatically enhances the crystallinity of P3HT. The MOSA process can potentially be applied to other geometries, and to a wide range of solution-based precursors, and therefore will develop for practical applications in printed electronics.
半导体聚合物的蒸发自组装是一种用于制造微米和纳米级特征以用于有机和柔性电子器件的低成本方法。然而，在大多数情况下，速率受溶剂蒸发动力学的限制，并且在对于扩大制造规模具有吸引力的长度和时间尺度上实现均匀性具有挑战性。在本研究中，我们报告了通过一种具有振荡弯月面运动的改进刮刀法——弯月面振荡自组装（MOSA）对聚（3-己基噻吩）（P3HT）进行高通量连续印刷，该方法形成P3HT特征的速度比先前报道的技术快约100倍。弯月面固定在一个滚筒上，滚筒的振荡弯月面运动产生接触线形成和随后滑动的重复循环。印刷的P3HT线条展示出可重复和可定制的结构：纳米级厚度、微米级宽度、亚毫米图案间隔以及具有高度清晰边界的毫米到厘米级覆盖范围。P3HT图案的线宽以及间隔可以通过改变聚合物浓度水平和滚筒的旋转速率来独立控制。此外，掠入射广角X射线散射（GIWAXS）表明这种动态弯月面控制技术显著提高了P3HT的结晶度。MOSA工艺有可能应用于其他几何形状以及广泛的基于溶液的前驱体，因此将发展用于印刷电子的实际应用。
