Dye-containing conjugated ionic polymer was synthesized by the direct polymerization of 2-ethynylpyridine and the dye-containing hexyl bromide without any additional initiator or catalyst under mild reaction condition. The polymer structures were characterized by various instrumental methods to have the conjugated polymer backbone system having the dye-functional substituents. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the present polymers are mostly amorphous. The photoluminescence spectra of this ionic conjugated polymer showed that the photoluminescence peak is located at 605 nm corresponding to the photon energy of 2.05 eV. From the CV measurements, the HOMO energy level of the polymer was calculated to be 5.21 eV. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.