Poly(2-vinylpyridine) as an Additive for Enhancing N-Type Organic Thin-Film Transistor Stability

N-type organic semiconductors are particularly susceptible to degradation by ambient air. One such solution to this issue is to include additives in the inks these semiconductors would be cast from that would enhance device stability after film deposition. This method would reduce the number of processing steps needed to fabricate devices compared to other stabilization methods, such as encapsulation. In this study, the stabilization of n-type performance of the semiconductor poly{[N,N '-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5 '-(2,29-bisthiophene)} (P(NDI2OD-T2)) when it is blended with an increasing proportion by weight of poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) is reported. The simple synthesis of P2VP also makes it an ideal candidate material for large-scale applications. Concentrations as low as 0.1% P2VP incorporated into the P(NDI2OD-T2) blends provided an immediate stabilization effect, and at 10% and 50%, longer-term stability after one week is observed.