A new monomer containing coronene diimide with diphenylamine end groups (DCTD) has been synthesized and polymer thin films were electropolymerized onto gold, glassy carbon and ITO electrode surfaces. The resulting polymers show a reversible 2e − oxidation of the diphenylbenzidine unit and reversible reductions of the aromatic diimide. AFM was used to characterize the polymer film morphology. The electronic and electrochromic properties of these films were evaluated for use in organic electronic applications. Research in the field of organic semiconducting polymers and their uses in electronics has grown rapidly in recent decades. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Considerable effort has been given to developing new polymers and investigating their properties. Our research group has focused on synthesizing new monomers containing a central redox active moiety flanked by two electropolymerizable functional groups and subsequently, studying the mechanism of this process as well as their optical and electronic properties.
7-13Perylene diimides have been reported as electron-transport materials with high electron mobility as well as having good chemical, thermal and photochemical stability. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Coronene derivatives have shown columnar discotic liquid-crystalline (LC) mesophases making them important candidates for organic electron transport materials due to extensive molecular ordering. [21][22] Coronene with an extended core size over perylene appears to have stronger intermolecular interactions leading to better charge-carrier mobility. Polymers based on perylene and naphthalene diimides have been synthesized and used as n-type semiconductors for organic field effect transistors. and carbazole. 35 p-phenoxyphenylamine and diphenylamine also can be electropolymerized at moderate oxidation potentials and make excellent end groups for electroactive monomers. 8 In our lab, diphenylamine functionalized at the imide position of perylene and naphthalene moieties have been synthesized and polymer films synthesized via electropolymerization.7-13 Spectroelectrochemistry of naphthalene diimide polymers show a solvent-dependent absorption energy band.
12We have also used electrochemical quartz crystal nanogravimetry to explore the mechanism of film formation and kinetics of ion incorporation into polymer films in case of perylene and naphthalene diimide polymer.11,13,36 Also these polymers exhibit robust, stable colors in different redox states making them promising candidates for electrochromic materials.
12,13Spin coating is the most used method to make thin films for fabricating optoelectronic devices. However, in the spin coating process, a * Electrochemical Society Member.z E-mail: scp0010@auburn.edu; cammavi@auburn.edu polymer has to be well soluble in a solvent. Due to this low solubility semiconducting polymers are difficult to fabricate into organic field effect transistor (OFET). Processes that result in highly self-organized thin films are desirable for better interchain pi-pi stacking. 37 It has been repo...