Electric field induced optical anisotropy of P3HT nanofibers in a liquid solution Show others and affiliations
2015 (English) In: Optical Materials Express, E-ISSN 2159-3930, Vol. 5, no 11, p. 2642-2647Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Resource type Text
Abstract [en]
The nanofiber morphology of regioregular Poly-3- hexylthiophene (P3HT) is a 1D crystalline structure organized by π - π stacking of the backbone chains. In this study, we report the impact of electric field on the orientation and optical properties of P3HT nanofibers dispersed in liquid solution. We demonstrate that alternating electric field aligns nanofibers, whereas static electric field forces them to migrate towards the cathode. The alignment of nanofibers introduces anisotropic optical properties, which can be dynamically manipulated until the solvent has evaporated. Time resolved spectroscopic measurements revealed that the electro-optical response time decreases significantly with the magnitude of applied electric field. Thus, for electric field 1.3 V ·μm-1 the response time was measured as low as 20 ms, while for 0.65 V ·μm-1 it was 110-150 ms. Observed phenomenon is the first mention of P3HT supramolecules associated with electrooptical effect. Proposed method provides real time control over the orientation of nanofibers, which is a starting point for a novel practical implementation. With further development P3HT nanofibers can be used individually as an anisotropic solution or as an active component in a guest-host system.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages Optical Society of America, 2015. Vol. 5, no 11, p. 2642-2647
National Category
Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics Materials Chemistry
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-165 DOI: 10.1364/OME.5.002642 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84947753945 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-165 DiVA, id: diva2:939324
Note Publication no: A3598
2016-06-182016-06-072024-09-04 Bibliographically approved