Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 22: Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics II (CPP jointly with DS, HL, O)

O 22.7: Talk

Monday, March 31, 2014, 17:00–17:15, ZEU 222

Modeling LC mesophases in polymeric semiconductors with soft directional interactions — Patrick Gemünden, Carl Poelking, Kurt Kremer, Denis Andrienko, and •Kostas Daoulas — Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz

Often in Soft Matter mesoscale behavior couples across a hierarchy of scales to details of molecular architecture and interactions. When modeling such materials, features accounting for the latter must be included even in drastically coarse-grained (CG) representations. Focusing on liquid crystalline (LC) mesophases of polymeric semiconductors, we highlight a top-down strategy for developing such models, projecting classical density functionals on particle-based representations. Poly(3-alkylthiophenes) (P3AT) are considered as an example. Two different CG models are developed, representing: a) the polymer chain with a "soft" flexible tube [1] and b) each alkylthiophene as a plate-like object [2]. The first describes uniaxial nematics and the second captures biaxial nematic ordering, mimicking effects of anisotropy in microscopic interactions and chain architecture. We demonstrate that the model reproduces realistic material properties in nematic mesophases. In biaxial morphologies we discuss how collective orientation and planarization of molecules affects the lengths of conjugated segments, defined via conjugation-breaking torsional defects [3]. First results on the interplay between nematic ordering and phase separation in blends of P3AT with nanoparticles are presented.[1] Daoulas et al, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter (2012) 24, 284121 [2] Gemünden et al, Macromolecules (2013) 46, 5762 [3] Rühle et al, J. Chem. Phys. (2010) 32, 134103.