Electron transporting semiconducting polymers in organic electronics

Significant progress has been achieved in the preparation of semiconducting polymers over the past two decades, and successful commercial devices based on them are slowly beginning to enter the market. However, most of the conjugated polymers are hole transporting, or p-type, semiconductors that have seen a dramatic rise in performance over the last decade. Much less attention has been devoted to electron transporting, or n-type, materials that have lagged behind their p-type counterparts. Organic electron transporting materials are essential for the fabrication of organic p-n junctions, organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs), n-channel organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and complementary logic circuits. In this critical review we focus upon recent developments in several classes of electron transporting semiconducting polymers used in OLEDs, OFETs and OPVs, and survey and analyze what is currently known concerning electron transporting semiconductor architecture, electronic structure, and device performance relationships (87 references).