Improved Mobility-Stretchability Properties of Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Based Conjugated Polymers with Diastereomeric Conjugation Break Spacers.

Stretchable conjugated polymers with conjugation break spacers (CBSs) synthesized via random terpolymerization have gained considerable attention because of their efficacy in modulating mobility and stretchability. This study incorporated a series of dianhydrohexitol diastereomers of isosorbide (ISB) and isomannide (IMN) units into the diketopyrrolopyrrole-based backbone as CBSs. We found that the distorted CBS (IMN) improved the mobility-stretchability properties of the polymer with a highly coplanar backbone, whereas the extended CBS (ISB) enhanced those of the polymer with a noncoplanar backbone. Additionally, the different configurations of ISB and IMN sufficiently affected the solid-state packing, aggregation capabilities, crystallographic parameters, and mobility-stretchability properties of the polymer. The IMN-based polymers exhibited the highest mobility of 1.69 cm 2 V -1 s -1 and crystallinity retentions of (85.7, 78.6)% under 20% and 60% strains, outperforming their ISB-based or unmodified counterparts. The improvement was correlated with a robust aggregation capability. Furthermore, the CBS content affected aggregation behavior, notably affecting mobility. This result indicates that incorporating CBSs into the polymer can enhance backbone flexibility via movement and rotation of the CBS without affecting the crystalline regions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.