Probing Stretchable Features of Conjugated Polymer from Molecular Level to Mesoscale with Soft X-Ray Spectroscopy and Scattering

Great advances have been made in stretchable/flexible organic electronics in recent years. However, the chemical and morphological developments when the organic thin film is under stretching and releasing are still undetermined. In this work, we used N2200 as a prototype polymer to investigate the stretchable features on the molecular level and mesoscale during tensile testing. Bulk-sensitive total fluorescence yield (TFY) spectra with theoretically simulated x-ray absorption spectra can uncover the fingerprint of the molecular behaviors induced by strains. Real-time resonant soft x-ray scattering (RSoXS) can probe the mesoscale characteristics associated with anisotropy and domain size. Furthermore, extending the soft x-ray scattering to tender x-ray scattering can provide new insight into the chain packing when the polymer is with strains.