Abstract
π-Conjugated polymers have found applications as active materials in a range of optoelectronic devices due to being intrinsically semiconducting, exhibiting switchable properties in the course of redox processes, and the possibility of being processed from solution. Current developments in molecular design have been extended to include switchable solubility by means of chemical cross-linking via polymerization of photo-reactive groups attached to the polymer backbone. Exploiting the cross-linkable ability of conjugated polymers has allowed extending applications to multilayered devices fabrication, as the cross-linked structure does not re-dissolve upon further deposition of solutions, and also to patterning processes, at the sub-micrometric scale, based on photo-induced methods (photo-lithography) or on phaseseparation in spin cast polymer blends. Among the classes of cross-linkable conjugated polymers, those containing oxetane units as the cross-linking moiety have been the most explored in terms of applications in optoelectronic devices. In this article, we review the recent progress in the field of oxetane-functionalized conjugated polymers, focusing on their molecular design to control electronic and processing properties and their most relevant applications in organic electronics.
Keywords: Conjugated polymers, Cross-linkable materials, Organic electronics, Organic light-emitting diodes, Oxetanes, Patterning
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