Impact of side-chain length on alternating current mobility of charge carriers in regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene) films

The charge carrier mobility in films of regioregular polythiophenes substituted by n-alkyl side-chains, of butyl, hexyl, octyl, decyl, and dodecyl, was investigated by flash-photolysis time-resolved microwave conductivity (FP-TRMC), and transient photoabsorption spectroscopy excited at 355 nm. The charge carrier concentration was estimated from inspecting radical anions of perylenecarboxydiimide (PDI), which also acts as an efficient electron acceptor to improve the yield of photocarrier generation. We discuss the dependence of side-chain length in terms of decay dynamics, quantum yield of charge carrier generation, and alternating current (ca. 9 GHz) mobility, which exceeded 0.12 cm2/(V s).