Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Vol.587, No.2, 308-313, 2006
Electrosynthesis of soluble polythiophene derivatives with high thermal stability
Poly(3-[4-(4-pentyl-cyclohexyl)-phenyl]-thiophene) (PPeChPhT) and poly(3-[2-fluoro-4-(4-pentyl-cyclohexyl)-phenyl]-thiophene) (PFPeChPhT) films were electrosynthesized by direct oxidation of the corresponding monomers in the mixed electrolytes of boron trifluoride diethyl etherate and ethyl ether (4:1, by volume). As grown PPeChPhT and PFPeChPhT films are in doped states and have conductivities of 0.10 and 0.11 S cm(-1), respectively. These two polymers in dedoped states are soluble in usual organic solvents such as tetrahydrofuran and chloroform, etc. The molar masses of the polymers were measured to be about 3400 g with dispersity of 1.32 (PPeChPhT) and 9300 g and dispersity of 1.51 (PFPeChPhT). Fluorescent spectral results showed that the polymers were strong yellow-green light emitters. Thermal degradation analysis results indicated that these polymers had high thermal stability with decomposition temperatures of about 500 degrees C. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:polythiophene derivatives;boron trifluoride diethyl etherate;electrochemical polymerization;conjugated polymer;thermal stability