Comparison of Methods for Determining the Mechanical Properties of Semiconducting Polymer Films for Stretchable Electronics

TLDR: A comparison of two characterization techniques for determining the mechanical properties of thin-film organic semiconductors for applications in soft electronics provides mechanistic insight into fracture modes in this class of materials.

Abstract: This paper describes a comparison of two characterization techniques for determining the mechanical properties of thin-film organic semiconductors for applications in soft electronics. In the first method, the film is supported by water (film-on-water, FOW), and a stress–strain curve is obtained using a direct tensile test. In the second method, the film is supported by an elastomer (film-on-elastomer, FOE), and is subjected to three tests to reconstruct the key features of the stress–strain curve: the buckling test (tensile modulus), the onset of buckling (yield point), and the crack-onset strain (strain at fracture). The specimens used for the comparison are four poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) samples of increasing molecular weight (Mn = 15, 40, 63, and 80 kDa). The methods produced qualitatively similar results for mechanical properties including the tensile modulus, the yield point, and the strain at fracture. The agreement was not quantitative because of differences in mode of loading (tension vs comp...