Watching Paint Dry: The Impact of Diiodooctane on the Kinetics of Aggregate Formation in Thin Films of Poly(3-hexylthiophene)

We have investigated how the addition of 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) alters the formation of disordered and ordered phases in a film of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT). By combining in situ time-resolved, absorption spectroscopy with 60 ms time resolution, optical and transmission electron microscopy and spatially resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy, we show that, in addition to the excitonic coupling, the film formation process during spin-coating as well as the subsequent long-time film drying process differ significantly when DIO is added to a solution of P3HT. During spin-coating, the addition of DIO reduces the actual time for transformation from disordered to ordered phase, even though it increases the time until the disorder order transition sets in. In place of a solidification front, we observe an all-over solidification throughout the entire film. The phase separation between nonaggregated and aggregated phase increases when using DIO, with compositional variation in the content of aggregated phase on a micrometer scale.