Bodipy-Containing Polymers With Ultralow Band Gaps And Ambipolar Charge Mobilities

A series of BODIPY-containing donor-acceptor conjugated polymers was designed and synthesized through Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. The obtained polymers were characterized with NMR, UV-vis, and fluorescence spectroscopies, as well as cyclic voltammetry and thermal gravimetric analysis. These polymers were found to possess a strong and broad NIR absorption approaching 1600 nm, deep LUMO energy levels (<-4.0 eV), and good thermal stability. In-plane charge transport properties were studied in an organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) structure with the polymers exhibiting ambipolar charge mobilities up to 10(-3) cm(2) V-1 s(-1), which is one of the highest values for BODIPY-containing polymers. Due to the outstanding optoelectronic properties and good stability, our work demonstrates that BODIPY-containing polymers could be promising candidates for applications in NIR devices and bioimaging technologies.