Anomalous Magnetoresistance in a Nonconjugated Radical Polymer Glass

Macromolecules bearing open-shell entities offer unique transport properties for both electronic and spintronic devices. This work demonstrates that, unlike their conjugated polymer counterparts, the charge carriers in radical polymers (i.e., macromolecules with nonconjugated backbones and with stable open-shell sites present at their pendant groups) are singlet cations, which opens significant avenues for manipulating macromolecular design for advanced solid-state transport in these highly transparent conductors. Despite this key point, magnetoresistive effects are present in radical polymer thin films under applied magnetic fields due to the presence of impurity sites in low (i.e., <1%) concentrations. Additionally, thermal annealing of poly(4-glycidyloxy-2,2,6,6- tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl) (PTEO), a nonconjugated polymer with stable open-shell pendant groups, facilitated better electron exchange and pairwise spin interactions resulting in an unexpected magnetoresistance signal at relatively low field strengths (i.e., <2 T). The addition of 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-N-oxy (TEMPO-OH), a paramagnetic species, increased the magnitude of the MR effect when the small molecule was added to the radical polymer matrix. These macroscopic experimental observables are explained using computational approaches that detail the fundamental molecular principles. This intrinsic localized charge transport behavior differs from the current state of the art regarding closed-shell conjugated macromolecules, and it opens an avenue towards next-generation transport in organic electronic materials.