End-on orientation of semiconducting polymers in thin films induced by surface segregation of fluoroalkyl chains

Controlling the orientation of highly anisotropic structures of polymers is important because the majority of their mechanical, electronic, and optical properties depend on the orientation of the polymer backbone. In thin films, the polymer chains tend to adopt an orientation parallel to the substrate; therefore, forcing the chains to stand perpendicular to the substrate is challenging. We have developed a simple way to achieve this end-on orientation. We functionalized one end of a poly(3-butylthiophene) (P3BT) chain with a 1H,1H,2H,2H,3H,3H-perfluoroundecyl group, which caused spontaneous self-segregation of the polymer (P3BT-F17) to the surface of the polymer film. In P3BT-F17/polystyrene (PS) blend films, a highly ordered end-on orientation of the conjugated backbone was observed in the surface-segregated layer of the crystalline P3BT-F17. Furthermore, when the film was spin-coated from a mixture of P3BT-F17 and P3BT, the chain orientation of P3BT-F17 at the surface forced the P3BT in the bulk of the film to adopt the end-on orientation because of the high crystallinity of P3BT. The electronic conductivity measured perpendicular to the film surface also reflected the end-on orientation in the bulk, resulting in a more than 30-fold enhancement of the hole mobility.