Development of thermoplastic semiconducting elastomer materials and their application to stretchable electronic devices

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H06049
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Polymer/Textile materials
• Research Institution: Yamagata University
• Principal Investigator: Higashihara Tomoya 山形大学, 大学院有機材料システム研究科, 教授 (50504528)
• Research Collaborator: Fukuta Seijiro ; Chen Wen-Chang ; Osaka Itaru ; Sekine Tomohito
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 有機エレクトロニクス / ブロック共重合体 / エラストマー / π共役系高分子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Aiming at producing flexible/stretchable electronic devices mounted on chemical/bio sensors, a new semiconducting elastomer material has been developed. In practice, we succeeded in synthesizing an ABA triblock copolymer where A and B were poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), which is a highly crystalline semiconducting polymer, and polyisobutylene (PIB), a superior elastomeric material, respectively. The deformation of the self-assembled hierarchical nanostructure of the ABA triblock copolymer thin films was clearly observed by grazing incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scatterings. As a result of evaluation of mechanical properties and organic field effect transistor characteristics of the obtained polymer, it became clear that the developed material is excellent in stretchability and semiconductivity at the same time.

Free Research Field

高分子化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で開発したハード・ソフトポリマー鎖から構成される新規ABA型トリブロック共重合体の階層的ナノ構造の特定に成功し、一般に二律背反する伸縮性と半導体性能の両立に対する材料設計指針を確立した。また、伸縮性電子デバイスの創成により、化学・バイオセンサーの軽量フレキシブル化が可能になり、服や皮膚に貼り付けることで、健康診断・維持管理の自動化が進むと予想さる。従って、加速する少子高齢化社会において重要な革新技術と言える。