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This review gives a simple introduction to the electronic, optical and structural behaviour of rod-coil block copolymers in which the rod block is conjugated. The current understanding of the optical properties of conjugated polymers is discussed, as is the self-assembly characteristics of rod-coil block copolymers, along with their behaviour with respect to organic light-emitting diode and photovoltaic devices. Poly(p-phenylene), poly(p-phenylenevinylene) and polythiophenes are then used to give concrete examples and a short history of the developments of this astounding field.can have a strong influence on the type of morphology obtained. The asymmetric nature of the highly rigid conjugated block and the coil block tends to increase the Flory-Huggins parameter (χ ) leading to domain formation even with relatively short polymers and oligomers. 42 Indeed, a wide variation of morphologies has been demonstrated through the preparation of mushroomlike aggregates, 43 honeycomb structures, 44 -47 vesicles 48,49 and cylindrical and lamellar aggregates. 50 -52 And it has been shown that, due to charge confinement within domains, the self-assembly process can be altered by using parameters such as light and temperature. 53 -55 It is apparent that rod-coil copolymers containing conjugated segments can lead to well-defined objects at the nanometric scale and that this in turn leads to the materials having an extraordinary range of applications.This review aims to give an overview of the main applications of π -conjugated systems, highlighting the importance of controlling the ineluctable aggregation phenomena and concentrating on the qualities of rod-coil block copolymers. An initial review of the basic electronic and optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers along with a brief synopsis of their use and operation in more notable applications is given as this helps to explain the characteristics found and sought for with conjugated rod-coil copolymers. ARCHETYPAL CONJUGATED POLYMERSThe discovery in 1977 that polyacetylene exhibits a conductivity of about 10 3 S cm −1 on doping with Br 2 , I 2 or AsF 5 initiated a true interest in this material. 2 However, polyacetylene exhibits low environmental and thermal stabilities and poor solubilities that limit its technical use. Following these observations, many aromatic conjugated polymers such as poly(p-phenylene) (PPP), 56 polythiophene (PT), 57 polypyrrole 58 and others shown in Fig. 1 were studied. Currently, many other analogues are regularly prepared. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), marketed by the Bayer company since the 1980s, is one of the most widely exploited. 59 -63 This polymer shows reasonable conductivity (ca 1 S cm −1 ), quasi-transparency in films and high stability in the oxidized state. 62 -64 An important development was the discovery of the green electroluminescence of undoped poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) by Friend and colleagues in 1990. 65 This breakthrough was followed by the ground-breaking preparation of the first blue PLED based ...

Summary: The synthesis of PEDOT nanoparticles and vesicles by dispersion polymerization in a methanol/water mixture (3/2, v/v) is reported, using either ammonium persulfate or iron(III) p‐toluenesulfonate as oxidants and α‐EDOT‐PEO as a reactive stabilizer. The influence of the oxidant as well as the α‐EDOT‐PEO molar mass and concentration on the core‐shell particle morphology and conductivity properties have been investigated. PEDOT particles with conductivities up to 1.5 × 10−2 S · cm−1 have been obtained in high yield.