Mixed-Flow Design For Microfluidic Printing Of Two-Component Polymer Semiconductor Systems

The rational creation of two-component conjugated polymer sys-tems with high levels of phase purity in each component is challenging but crucial for realizing printed soft-matter electronics. Here, we report a mixed-flow microfluidic printing (MFMP) approach for two-component pi-polymer systems that significantly elevates phase purity in bulk-heterojunction solar cells and thin-film transistors. MFMP integrates laminar and extensional flows using a specially microstructured shear blade, designed with fluid flow simulation tools to tune the flow patterns and induce shear, stretch, and pushout effects. This optimizes polymer conformation and semi-conducting blend order as assessed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS), resonant soft X-ray scattering (R-SoXS), photovoltaic response, and field effect mobility. For printed all-polymer (poly[(5,6-difluoro-2-octyl-2H-benzotriazole-4,7-diyl)-2,5-thiophenediyl[4,8-bis[5-(2-hexyldecyl)-2-thienyl]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b ']dithiophene-2,6-diyl]-2,5-thiophenediyl]) [J51]:(poly{[N,N '-bis(2-octyldodecyl) naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5 '-(2,2 '-bithio-phene)}) [N2200]) solar cells, this approach enhances short-circuit currents and fill factors, with power conversion efficiency increasing from 5.20% for conventional blade coating to 7.80% for MFMP. Moreover, the performance of mixed polymer ambipolar [poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT):N2200] and semiconducting:insulat-ing polymer unipolar (N2200:polystyrene) transistors is similarly enhanced, underscoring versatility for two-component pi-polymer systems. Mixed-flow designs offer modalities for achieving high-performance organic optoelectronics via innovative printing methodologies.