Deuterium labeling has been shown previously to affect thermodynamic interactions at polymer surfaces, polymer/polymer heterogeneous interfaces, and in bulk (away from a surface or interface). However, the changes in polymer-polymer interactions due to deuterium labeling have not been thoroughly investigated for highly immiscible systems. It is shown here that deuterium labeling can influence p...

Solution-processed polymer optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells have many advantages for large-area manufacture, and show increasing levels of performance. Here, we review recent progress in using blends of two conjugated polymers for optoelectronic devices. The blending of two or more polymers allows tuning of device performance, and for photovoltaics presents a...

We report the demonstration of a compact, all-solid-state polymer laser system comprising of a Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor diode laser as the pump source. The polymer laser was configured as a surface emitting, distributed Bragg reflector laser (DBR), based on a novel energy transfer blend of Coumarin 102 and the conjugated polymer poly(2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinyl...

Knowledge of the glass transition temperatures (Tgs) as function of composition reflects miscibility (or lack of it) and is decisive for virtually all properties of polymer-based materials. In this article, we analyze single blend-average and effective Tgs of miscible polymer blends in full concentration ranges. Shortcomings of the extant equations are discussed to support the need for an alter...

We investigated the structure-morphology-performance relationship of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based low band gap polymers with different donor cores in organic field effect transistors (OFETs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). The change in the chemical structure led to strong physical property differences, such as crystalline behavior, blend morphology, and device performance. In addition, t...

Time-resolved small angle neutron scattering was used to probe the initial stages of liquid-liquid phase separation in both critical and off-critical binary polymer blends, and the critical (q(c)) and most probable (q(m)) wave vectors were identified for several quench depths. For the critical blend, the Cahn-Hilliard-Cook theory provides a framework for analyzing the data and explains the obse...