Toblerone-Shaped Polymers: Bridging the Gap between Conjugated Polymers and Carbon Nanotubes

Electronic devices fabricated from conjugated polymers are expected to be competitive with those based on inorganic materials because of their low production costs due to high-throughput processing methods. These linear polymers possess tunable optoelectronic and mechanical properties and can be highly soluble. Although, conjugated polymers can be found in prototypes of electronic devices, only a handful of applications found their way to the commercial use. One of the reasons is their relatively low charge carrier mobility. An alternative to conjugated polymers are cylindrical single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Despite their excellent charge transport properties, SWCNTs, however, suffer from low solubility, sample purity, limited tunability of their properties, and, overall, high production costs. Other approaches that would successfully combine the properties of linear polymers and the cylindrical SWCNTs preserving the typical advantages of former and displaying high charge carrier mobility are largely missing.In this research proposal, the synthesis and experimental investigation of nanoprismatic, i.e., toblerone-shaped, polymers and nanoprisms are described for the first time. These ladder structures built by combination of triangular electron acceptor and linear electron donor monomers possess aromatic p-electron surfaces exposed to the exterior of the polymer or nanoprism such that it allows for p-electron communication with adjacent polymer segments or nanoprisms. Such spatial arrangement will result in an improved charge carrier mobility, similar to SWCNT. The choice of the individual monomers allows for tailoring their optoelectronic and material properties. Therefore, successful completion of the proposed research will introduce a new unconventional approach to bridge the conceptual gap between the scientific field of conjugated polymers and SWCNTs unprecedented in the scientific literature.