10.1021/nn4000435.s002 Huiliang Wang Huiliang Wang Jianguo Mei Jianguo Mei Peng Liu Peng Liu Kristin Schmidt Kristin Schmidt Gonzalo Jiménez-Osés Gonzalo Jiménez-Osés Sílvia Osuna Sílvia Osuna Lei Fang Lei Fang Christopher J. Tassone Christopher J. Tassone Arjan Pieter Zoombelt Arjan Pieter Zoombelt Anatoliy N. Sokolov Anatoliy N. Sokolov Kendall N. Houk Kendall N. Houk Michael F. Toney Michael F. Toney Zhenan Bao Zhenan Bao Scalable and Selective Dispersion of Semiconducting Arc-Discharged Carbon Nanotubes by Dithiafulvalene/Thiophene Copolymers for Thin Film Transistors American Chemical Society 2013 alkyl side chains semiconducting SWNTs MD Thin Film TransistorsWe report dispersion selectivity polymer backbone interactions pDTFF side chains 2013-03-26 00:00:00 Media https://acs.figshare.com/articles/media/Scalable_and_Selective_Dispersion_of_Semiconducting_Arc_Discharged_Carbon_Nanotubes_by_Dithiafulvalene_Thiophene_Copolymers_for_Thin_Film_Transistors/2431486 We report a simple and scalable method to enrich large quantities of semiconducting arc-discharged single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with diameters of 1.1–1.8 nm using dithiafulvalene/thiophene copolymers. Stable solutions of highly individualized and highly enriched semiconducting SWNTs were obtained after a simple sonication and centrifuge process. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of polymer backbone interactions with and without side chains indicated that the presence of long alkyl side chains gave rise to the selectivity toward semiconducting tubes, indicating the importance of the roles of the side chains to both solubilize and confer selectivity to the polymers. We found that, by increasing the ratio of thiophene to dithiafulvalene units in the polymer backbone (from pDTFF-1T to pDTFF-3T), we can slightly improve the selectivity toward semiconducting SWNTs. This is likely due to the more flexible backbone of pDTFF-3T that allows the favorable wrapping of SWNTs with certain chirality as characterized by small-angle X-ray scattering. However, the dispersion yield was reduced from pDTFF-1T to pDTFF-3T. MD simulations showed that the reduction is due to the smaller polymer/SWNT contact area, which reduces the dispersion ability of pDTFF-3T. These experimental and modeling results provide a better understanding for future rational design of polymers for sorting SWNTs. Finally, high on/off ratio solution-processed thin film transistors were fabricated from the sorted SWNTs to confirm the selective dispersion of semiconducting arc-discharge SWNTs.