Impact of Substrate Characteristics on Stretchable Polymer Semiconductor Behavior

Stretchable conductive polymer films are required to survive not only large tensile strain but also stay functional after the reduction in applied strain. In the deformation process, the elastomer substrate that is typically employed plays a critical role in response to the polymer film. In this study, we examine the role of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer substrate on the ability to achieve stretchable PDPP-4T films. In particular, we consider the adhesion and near-surface modulus of the PDMS tuned through UV/ozone (UVO) treatment on the competition between film wrinkling and plastic deformation. We also consider the role of PDMS tension on the stability of films under cyclic strain. We find that increasing the near-surface modulus of the PDMS and maintaining the PDMS in tension throughout the cyclic strain process promote plastic deformation over film wrinkling. In addition, the UVO treatment increases film adhesion to the PDMS resulting in a significantly reduced film folding and delamination. For a 20 min UVO-treated PDMS, we show that a PDPP-4T film root-mean-square roughness is consistently below 3 nm for up to 100 strain cycles with a strain range of 40%. In addition, although the film is plastically deforming, the microstructural order is largely stable as probed by grazing incidence X-ray scattering and UV visible spectroscopy. These results highlight the importance of neighboring elastomer characteristics on the ability to achieve stretchable polymer semiconductors.