Chain shape and thin film behaviour of poly(thiophene)-graft-poly(acrylate urethane)

Abstract

Electronic graft copolymers with conjugated polymer backbones are emerging as promising materials for various organic electronics. These materials combine the advantages of organic electronic materials, such as molecular tunability of opto-electronic and electrochemical properties, with solution processability and other 'designer' physical and mechanical properties imparted through the addition of grafted polymer side chains. Future development of such materials with complex molecular architecture requires a better understanding of the effect of molecular parameters, such as side chain length, on the structure and, in turn, on the electronic properties. In this study, poly(thiophene)-graft-poly(acrylate urethane) (PTh-g-PAU) was examined as a model system and we investigate the effect of side chain length on the overall shape and size in solution. Furthermore, the changes in the swelling behaviour of the graft copolymer thin films help in understanding their electrochemical redox properties.

Copolymers of Gelatin-graft-poly(3-hexylthiophene) for Transient Electronics

“…The Gel- g -P3HT-2 was soluble in water (up to 40 mg/mL), as the copolymer contained a large fraction (90.95 wt %) of gelatin. We postulated that the conformation of P3HT chains might be manipulated by utilizing varying ratios of mixed solvents . Here, we employed a THF/H 2 O mixture to dissolve Gel- g -P3HT-2 to investigate the PL properties of the graft copolymer.…”

“…We postulated that the conformation of P3HT chains might be manipulated by utilizing varying ratios of mixed solvents. 44 Here, we employed a THF/H 2 O mixture to dissolve Gel-g-P3HT-2 to investigate the PL properties of the graft copolymer. The PL spectra of Gel-g-P3HT-2 solutions in DI water or THF/H 2 O (1:1, vol:vol) are presented in Figure 3A and that of Gel-g-P3HT-2 thin films cast on a glass slide in Figure 3B.…”

New insights into the solid–liquid interface exploiting neutron reflectivity

“…[13] An alternative approach to study surfaces which are not transparent to neutrons, is to support a thin film of the material on a transparent substrate. This has been reported for an increasing number of metal systems including Fe [14,15], Ti [16][17][18], Cu [19][20][21][22][23][24][25], Ni [26][27][28], Al [29,30] and Au [31][32][33][34]. Steel [35] remains a challenge with the overall deposited composition replicated, but the metallurgical aspects are not necessarily typical of bulk steel (see section 2.3 below).…”

“…Specialist electrochemical NR cells are also used for the study of potential-sensitive polymers, which can have a wide range of applications, such as ion-selective electrodes for sensors [59] or organic electronics [34]. In these cases, the data reveal that only thin layers are needed for effective sensors as the reaction only happens in the surface region, and that the swelling of grafted electronic organic films can be controlled with potential.…”

Solvent-Free Conjugated Polymer Fluids with Optical Functions

“…In light of these factors, and despite CPs being promising candidates for stretchable electronics, studies on their viscoelasticity are limited compared to those on the mature physics of commodity polymers. Polymer design approaches to promote the deformability of CPs can be classified into three types with respect to their chemical structure (Figure 1): Insertion of flexible spacers into the conjugated backbone (Type I); 27,28 Block [29][30][31][32] or graft copolymerization 33,34 with a soft polymer (Type II); Internal plasticization by small molecular side chains maintaining full conjugation of the polymer backbone (Type III) (this review). Type I and II CPs are the most well studied for controlling the crystallinity to maintain the electrical properties.…”