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Ground State Host–Guest Interactions upon Effective Dispersion of Regioregular Poly(3-hexylthiophene) in Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole

Wu, L. ; Casado, S. ; Romero, B. ; Otón, J. M. ; Morgado, J. ; Müller, C. ; Xia, R. ; Gonzalez, J. C.-G.

Macromolecules Vol. 48, Nº 24, pp. 8765 - 8772, December, 2015.

ISSN (print): 0024-9297
ISSN (online): 1520-5835

Scimago Journal Ranking: 2,36 (in 2015)

Digital Object Identifier: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5b02111

Abstract
Regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene), (rr-P3HT), is widely regarded as an archetypical semiconducting electron-donor polymer in bulk heterojunction solar cells, mainly due to its notable exciton and charge transport properties. Conversely, its use in photonic/lighting devices received little interest owing to its low emission quantum yield in the solid state, related to its large tendency to self-organize into lamellar domains with highly nonemissive character. We present experimental evidence pointing to a large miscibility of P3HT in poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT), accompanied by mutual π–π interactions. Concomitant to this effect, the emission properties of P3HT:F8BT blends, which are attributed to heterogeneous interchain complexes, experience a significant improvement, with photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) values approaching 25% (almost a 7-fold efficiency enhancement with respect to neat/aggregated rr-P3HT). Our results open up new prospects for improved photonic properties through appropriate control of interchain interactions