Synthesis, characterization and comparative study of thiophene–benzothiadiazole based donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) materials

Abstract

The synthesis and characterization of solution processable donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) based conjugated molecules with varying ratios of thiophene as donor (D) and benzothiadiazole as acceptor (A) are reported. Optical, electrochemical, thermal, morphological and organic thin film transistor (OTFT) device properties of these materials were investigated. The thermal and polarized optical microscope analysis indicates that the materials having higher D/A ratios exhibit both liquid crystalline (LC) and OTFT behavior. AFM analysis of the materials having D/A ratios of 3 and 4 (3T1B and 4T1B) show well ordered structures, resulting from strong π–π interchain interactions compared to the other molecules in this study. A XRD patterns for 3T1B and 4T1B thin films also shows high crystalline ordering. Solution processed OTFTs of 3T1B and 4T1B have shown un-optimized charge carrier mobilities of 2 × 10⁻² cm²V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and 4 × 10⁻³ cm²V⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively on bare Si/SiO₂ substrate.