Yeneneh Y. Yimer

Improved Force Field for Molecular Modeling of Poly(3-hexylthiophene)

An ab initio-based improved force field is reported for poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) in the solid state, deriving torsional parameters and partial atomic charges from ab initio molecular structure calculations with explicit treatment of the hexyl side chains. The force field is validated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of solid P3HT with different molecular weights including calculation of structural parameters, mass density, melting temperature, glass transition temperature, and surface tension. At 300 K, the P3HT crystalline structure features planar backbones with non-interdigitated all-trans hexyl side chains twisted ~90° from the plane of the backbone. For crystalline P3HT with infinitely long chains, the calculated 300 K mass density (1.05 g cm(-3)), the melting temperature (490 K), and the 300 K surface tension (32 mN/m) are all in agreement with reported experimental values, as is the glass transition temperature (300 K) for amorphous 20-mers.

Interfacial properties of free-standing poly(3-hexylthiophene) films

Using full atomistic classical molecular dynamics simulations, the interfacial properties of free-standing poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) films have been investigated. The orientations of different parts of the P3HT chain and the surface tensions of the films were calculated in a temperature range of 540 K-600 K. At the liquid/vacuum interface, the P3HT chain shows ordering by exposing hexyl groups at the interface, while the chain backbone lays flat with the thiophene ring preferentially tilt toward the surface. At the interface, the terminal methyl groups of hexyl side chains are in excess compared to the methylene groups or thiophene rings. The surface tension of P3HT in its melt state shows similar temperature dependence to that of polymers that have long alkyl side chains. The surface tension values are comparable to those polymers that expose methyl or methylene groups on the surface. The surface tension values determined for the melt state are lower than the experimental reported values for crystalline P3HT films, as expected.

Static and dynamic properties of poly(3-hexylthiophene) films at liquid/vacuum interfaces

All-atom molecular dynamics simulations are used to study static and dynamic properties of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) films at liquid/vacuum interfaces with regards to their dependence on both temperature and molecular weight. The static properties of the films are characterized by calculating specific volume, interfacial width, orientational ordering of the hexyl groups, and surface tension. The specific volume found to be a monotonically decreasing function of the molecular weight while its dependence on temperature follows the Simha-Somcynskys equation of state. The orientational ordering calculations show the hexyl groups protruding from the vacuum side of the interface, where the degree of order at the interface is found to be strongly dependent on both temperature and molecular weight. The surface tension values show a linear dependence on temperature and the molecular weight dependence is equally described by both M(-2∕3) and M(-1) power law models. The dynamic properties are quantified by calculating diffusion coefficients for the chain centers-of-mass and thiophene ring segments as well as first-order and second-order end-to-end vector autocorrelations and chain backbone torsion autocorrelation. All calculated dynamic properties show strong dependence on both temperature and molecular weight. All the autocorrelations are well described by Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts equation. Our detailed analysis of the static and dynamic properties of P3HT films show that the calculated static and dynamic properties data can be fit with well-known polymer models.