Mildly-doped polythiophene with triflates for molecular recognition

Organic semiconductors have enough molecular versatility to feature chemo-specific electrical sensitivity large families of chemical substituents via different intermolecular bonding modes. This study demonstrates that one single conducting polymer can be tuned either discriminate water-, ethanol- or acetone-vapors, on demand, by changing the nature its dopant. Seven triflate salts differ from mild strong p-dopant poly(3-hexylthiophene) sensing micro-arrays. Each material shows a pattern conductance modulation for which is reversible, reproducible, and distinctive other gas exposures. Based principal component analysis, an array doped with only two triflates trained reliably gases, re-motivates using polymers as class materials integrated electronic noses. More importantly, this method points out existence tripartite donor-acceptor charge-transfer complexes responsible chemospecific sensing. By showing acceptors duality p-dope coordinate donor such behavior used understand role frontier orbital overlapping in organic semiconductors, formation Lewis acid-base adducts semiconductors.