Abstract
Novel, extremely narrow band-gap polymer with a structure based on natural indigo has been synthesised and exhibits high crystallinity, high ambipolar transport in OFET devices, and OPV device efficiencies up to 2.35% with light absorbance up to 950 nm, demonstrating potential in near-IR photovoltaics. We demonstrate that the use of a potentially bio-sustainable monomer unit in a conjugated polymer can give balanced ambipolar OFET mobilities in excess of 0.5 cm2/Vs. This novel monomer, and polymers are synthesized by rigidifying the structure of indigo by condensation with an aromatic acidic acid. The materials display high crystallinity which can be further enhanced by annealing and demonstrate that it can be used as a potentially biosustainable alternative to the commonly used DPP and iso-indigo monomers. We believe this is the first attempt to tackle the issue of sustainability in conjugated polymer synthesis.