Diketopyrrolopyrrole‐Based Conjugated Polymer Entailing Triethylene Glycols as Side Chains with High Thin‐Film Charge Mobility without Post‐Treatments

Side chain engineering of conjugated donor–acceptor polymers is a new way to manipulate their optoelectronic properties. Two new diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)‐terthiophene‐based conjugated polymers PDPP3T‐1 and PDPP3T‐2, with both hydrophilic triethylene glycol (TEG) and hydrophobic alkyl chains, are reported. It is demonstrated that the incorporation of TEG chains has a significant effect on the interchain packing and thin‐film morphology with noticeable effect on charge transport. Polymer chains of PDPP3T‐1 in which TEG chains are uniformly distributed can self‐assemble spontaneously into a more ordered thin film. As a result, the thin film of PDPP3T‐1 exhibits high saturated hole mobility up to 2.6 cm(2) V(−1) s(−1) without any post‐treatment. This is superior to those of PDPP3T with just alkyl chains and PDPP3T‐2. Moreover, the respective field effect transistors made of PDPP3T‐1 can be utilized for sensing ethanol vapor with high sensitivity (down to 100 ppb) and good selectivity.