N-acylated isoindigo based conjugated polymers for n-channel and ambipolar organic thin-film transistors

•The first N-acylated isoindigo monomer was reported.•Polymers based on the new monomer showed broad absorptions and deep LUMO levels.•The new polymers were studied as semiconductors in OTFT devices.

Donor/acceptor polymers with N-acylated isoindigo as acceptor units have been synthesized. The thermal, optical, electrochemical, and charge-transport properties of the polymers have been investigated. The new polymers show broad absorption from 450 to 900 nm. Due to the strong electron accepting characteristic of N-acylated isoindigo, the new polymers exhibit narrow optical band gaps and deep LUMO energy levels compared with the polymers based on N-alkylated isoindigo. The new polymers show n-type transport behavior and balanced ambipolar transport behavior in organic thin film transistors (OTFT) device.

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