Conjugated Polymers at Nanoscale : Engineering Orientation, Nanostructure, and Properties/ Karen K. Gleason, Meysam Heydari & Gharahcheshmeh.

Nanoscale control of order and orientation is essential for optimizing the performance of conjugated polymers. These semi-crystalline materials enable flexible devices for electronic, optical, electrochemical, and thermoelectric applications and are also of interest for the emerging fields of bioelectronics and spintronics.

Table of Content

Symbols for physical constants and properties
1 Introduction
1.1 Chemical bonding and electronic states
1.2 Electronic band structure
1.3 Doping

2 Order and orientation
2.1 Overview
2.2 Types of disorder
2.3 Intrachain coupling
2.4 Interchain coupling
2.5 Orientation
2.5.1 Measuring order and orientation
2.5.2 Interfacial effects
2.5.3 Grain boundaries
2.6 Counterions

3 Electronic transport
3.1 Extended and localized electronic states
3.2 Metal–insulator (M–I) transition
3.3 Partial localization of extended states (Group I)
3.3.1 Interchain coupling due to π–π stacking
3.4 Partial delocalization of molecular orbitals (Group II)
3.4.1 Variable range hopping (VRH)
3.4.2 Additional hopping conduction models
3.5 Partial delocalization due to ordered domains (Group III)
3.6 Intercrystallite hopping and tie chains
3.7 Comparing interchain and intercrystal carrier mobility
3.8 Electronic transport models and λ
3.8.1 Small λ
3.8.2 Large λ
3.8.3 Intermediate λ
3.9 Electronic transport and π–π stacking distance
3.10 Measuring electrical transport properties

4 Optoelectronic properties
4.1 Frequency dependent dielectric behavior
4.2 Transparent conductors
4.3 Anisotropy and chirality
4.4 Optical absorption and emission
4.5 Semiconducting conjugated polymers and their applications

5 Ionic transport
5.1 Redox reactions: doping and dedoping
5.2 Ionic drift, diffusion, and mobility
5.3 Interfacial charge transfer
5.4 Electrochemical characterization
5.5 Polymer morphology and texture
5.6 Pseudocapacitance

6 Thermal transport
6.1 Thermal conductivity
6.1.1 Isotropic
6.1.2 Anisotropy
6.2 Thermoelectric properties
6.2.1 Efficiency
6.2.2 Figures of merit
6.2.3 Band theory
6.2.4 Polymer morphology and tie chains

7 Conclusions and future directions
7.1 Technological drivers
7.1.1 Electrocatalysis
7.1.2 Spintronics
7.1.3 Bioelectronics and biosensing
7.1.4 Photothermal therapy
7.2 Stability and scalability
7.2.1 Backbone architecture
7.2.2 n-Type conjugated polymers
7.2.3 Porous networks
7.2.4 Grafting
7.3 Opportunities in characterization and computation
7.3.1 Tie chains
7.3.2 Order and orientation
7.4 Concluding remarks

Index