Semiconducting polymer blends that exhibit stable charge transport at high temperatures

Beating the heat by blending Charge carriers move through semiconductor polymers by hopping transport. In principle, these polymers should be more conductive at higher temperatures. In practice, conductivity drops at high temperatures because interchain contacts are disrupted, which limits potential applications. Gumyusenge et al. now show that appropriate blending of a semicrystalline conjugated polymer with an insulating polymer that has a high glass-transition temperature creates a morphology that stabilizes a network of semiconductor channels. High charge conductivity was maintained in these materials up to 220°C. Science , this issue p. 1131