Preventing Benzoquinone-Based Catalyst Aggregation Enables the One-Step Synthesis of Highly Conductive Poly(benzodifurandione) without Post-Reaction Purification
Journal article, 2025
Conductive polymers have become crucial in advancing various electronic applications. While p-type materials like poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) are widely used and produced at scale, the development of high-performance n-type polymers has lagged due to challenges in synthesis and scalability. In this work, a novel method is introduced to synthesize the highly conductive n-type polymer poly(benzodifurandione) (PBFDO) using alpha-tocopherylquinone (alpha-TQ) as a catalyst. This approach eliminates the need for post-reaction dialysis, a major obstacle to large-scale PBFDO production. By preventing catalyst aggregation, high electrical conductivity (>1320 S cm(-1)) is achieved, which remains stable in air for over 180 d, significantly simplifying the process. The alpha-TQ-synthesized PBFDO also exhibits excellent thermoelectric properties, with a power factor exceeding 100 mu W m(-1) K-2, placing it among the highest-performing n-type thermoelectric polymers. Additionally, residual alpha-TQ acts as a plasticizer, reducing the elastic modulus by over tenfold while maintaining high conductivity, making this material suitable for mechanically compliant electronics. Similarly, residual alpha-TQ lowers the thermal conductivity of PBFDO by more than an order of magnitude. The process is scalable, as demonstrated by producing high-conductivity ink in a 20 L reactor. This work presents an efficient and sustainable approach for large-scale n-type polymer production.
catalyst aggregation
scalable synthesis
n-type conductive polymers
thermoelectric properties
PBFDO
Author
Jun-Da Huang
Linköping University
Qifan Li
Linköping University
Qingqing Wang
n-Ink
Tiefeng Liu
Linköping University
Sang Young Jeong
Korea University
Sri Harish Kumar Paleti
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Tom P. A. van der Pol
Linköping University
Kai Xu
Inst Ciencia Mat Barcelona
Han-Yan Wu
Linköping University
Natalie Pinchin
n-Ink
Marc-Antoine Stoeckel
Linköping University
n-Ink
Wenlong Jin
Linköping University
Aleksandr Perevedentsev
Inst Ciencia Mat Barcelona
Xianjie Liu
Linköping University
Juan Sebastian Reparaz
Inst Ciencia Mat Barcelona
Mariano Campoy-Quiles
Inst Ciencia Mat Barcelona
Han Young Woo
Korea University
Christian Müller
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Mats Fahlman
Linköping University
Chi-Yuan Yang
n-Ink
Linköping University
Simone Fabiano
Linköping University
n-Ink
Advanced Materials
0935-9648 (ISSN) 15214095 (eISSN)
Vol. In PressHybrid and Organic Thermoelectric Systems (HORATES)
European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/955837), 2021-03-01 -- 2025-02-28.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Materials Chemistry
Polymer Chemistry
Other Chemical Engineering
DOI
10.1002/adma.202502426
PubMed
40099625