Multiscale-ordered, highly stretchable polymer semiconductor through nanoconfinement

Semiconducting polymers have been developed as a key component to enable skin-like wearable electronics, but their electrical performance must be improved while maintaining good mechanical stretchability. To substantially improve their charge carrier mobility under strain, we reported a novel and genetic approach that combines advanced solution processing with nanoconfinement effect to achieve multi-scale ordering and high stretchability in conjugated polymers. Here, the increased polymer chain dynamics under nanoconfinement significantly reduces the modulus of the conjugated polymer and largely delays the onset of crack formation under strain. As a result, our fabricated semiconducting film can be stretched up to 100% strain without affecting mobility. By using solution shearing with a patterned microtrench coating blade, macroscale alignment of conjugated-polymer nanostructures was achieved along the charge transport direction. In conjunction, the nanoscale spatial confinement aligns chain conformation and promotes short-range π–π ordering, substantially reducing the energetic barrier for charge carrier transport. As a result, the mobilities of stretchable conjugated-polymer films have been enhanced up to threefold and maintained under a strain up to 100%.