Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42030140›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2026

Solution-state nanoconfined aggregation and microstructure evolution in blends of conjugated polymers and elastomers.

Amnahir E Peña-Alcántara, Masoud Ghasemi, Christina Cheng, Thomas P Chaney, Aidan H Coffey, Elisa Ponte, XiaoZhou Ji, Lukas Michalek, Yilei Wu, Max Schrock and 7 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Solution-state nanoconfined aggregation and microstructure evolution in blends of conjugated polymers and elastomers.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Amnahir E Peña-Alcántara *Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Masoud Ghasemi *Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
Christina ChengDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Thomas P ChaneyMaterials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309.ORCID 0000-0002-8123-7215
Aidan H CoffeyAdvanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Elisa PonteDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
XiaoZhou JiDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Lukas MichalekDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Yilei WuDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Max SchrockDepartment of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Gradie NgarukaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Michal L GalaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Chenhui ZhuAdvanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720.ORCID 0000-0003-1263-5065
Michael F ToneyMaterials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309.ORCID 0000-0002-7513-1166
Alberto SalleoDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.
Enrique D GomezDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.ORCID 0000-0001-8942-4480
Zhenan BaoDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305.ORCID 0000-0002-0972-1715

Funding

DOD | USN | Office of Naval Research (ONR) N00014-19-1-2453NSF (NSF) ECCS-2026822U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DE-AC02-76SF00515
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Emerging wearable health monitoring technologies require conformable and stretchable devices. Polymer semiconductors composed of π-conjugated polymer aggregates in an elastomeric matrix are remarkable in their ability to provide both high stretchability and enhanced charge transport. Understanding their film formation process is critical in improving charge transport, imparting added functionalities, and advancing large-scale production of high-performing polymer electronic devices. Here, using a poly-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPPTT): polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS) blend as a model system, electron tomography of the blend reveals the presence of bundles of conjugated polymer nanofibers spanning the thickness of the films. High-resolution cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) of solution and thin films reveals that the nanoconfined DPPTT nanofibers in blends are composed of the aligned DPPTT 1D aggregates present in solution. In contrast, neat DPPTT solutions and thin films contain irregular crystalline domains with random orientations. In situ grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) studies reveal that DPPTT crystallization commences earlier in blends compared to neat films. Combining observations from both in situ ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, in situ GIWAXS and cryo-EM reveal that 1D aggregates in blend solution bundle and align into interconnected larger fibers that are nanoconfined in the SEBS matrix. This morphology is desirable for efficient charge transport and good mechanical strength. In contrast, neat DPPTT films contain randomly oriented smaller aggregates with an increased fraction of disordered domains. Overall, our work provides critical insights on the impact of solution composition and processing conditions on thin film morphology for achieving multifunctional high-performing electronic polymer composites.

Indexed as

blendnano confinementpolymer semiconductorstretchabletransistor

Identifiers

PMID42030140
PMCPMC13143047

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.