Polymers containing a fused benzodithiophene core with phenylethynyl substituents were prepared. The parent poly[4,8-bis(4-pentylphenylethynyl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene] was prepared by a Stille coupling. Copolymers with the new core were also obtained by Stille coupling with dibrominated fluorene and carbazole monomers. The obtained polymers had a lower band gap as compared to the related benzodithiophene cores due to the extended electron conjugation. The polymers were also highly fluorescent as observed by high quantum yields.

Poly(3-hexylthiophene)-b-poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamate) (P3HT-b-PBLG) rod-rod diblock copolymer was synthesized by a ring-opening polymerization of γ-benzyl-L-glutamate-N-carboxyanhydride using a benzylamine-terminated regioregular P3HT macroinitiator. The opto-electronic properties of the diblock copolymer have been investigated. The P3HT precursor and the P3HT-b-PBLG have similar UV-Vis spectra both in solution and solid state, indicating that the presence of PBLG block does not decrease the effective conjugation length of the semiconducting polythiophene segment. The copolymer displays solvatochromic behavior in THF/water mixtures. The morphology of the diblock copolymer depends upon the solvent used for film casting and annealing results in morphological changes for both films deposited from chloroform and trichlorobenzene.

Poly(3‐hexylthiophene)‐block‐poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) amphiphilic rod–coil diblock copolymers have been synthesized by a combination of Grignard metathesis (GRIM) and ring‐opening cationic polymerization. Diblock copolymers containing 5, 15, and 30 mol‐% poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) have been synthesized and characterized. The synthesized rod–coil block copolymers display nanofibrillar morphology where the density of the nanofibrills is dependent on the concentration of the poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) coil segment. The conductivity of the diblock copolymers was lowered from 200 to 35 S · cm−1 with an increase in the content of the insulating poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) block. By contrast, the field‐effect mobility decreased by 2–3 orders of magnitude upon the incorporation of the poly(2‐ethyl‐2‐oxazoline) insulating segment.magnified image

The influence of the solvent and annealing temperature on the field-effect mobilities and morphologies of poly(3-hexylthiophene)-b-poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) (P3HT-b-PBLG) rod–rod diblock copolymer has been investigated. Thin film X-ray diffraction studies show peaks originating from both P3HT and PBLG indicating that the crystalline nature of both the blocks is conserved after the formation of the block copolymer. It has been observed that the field-effect mobilities of the diblock copolymer are independent of the annealing temperatures for thin films deposited from both 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene and chloroform solvents. The correlation between the field-effect mobility and morphology indicates that the P3HT block self-assembles at the surface SiO2 dielectric.

Poly(3‐hexylthiophene)‐b‐poly(4‐vinylpyridine) diblock copolymer was synthesized by RAFT polymerization of 4‐vinyl pyridine using a trithiocarbonate‐terminated poly(3‐hexylthiophene) macro‐RAFT agent. The optoelectronic properties and the morphology of the block copolymer blends with CdSe quantum dots were investigated. UV‐vis and fluorescence experiments were performed to prove the charge transfer between CdSe and poly(3‐hexylthiophene)‐b‐poly(4‐vinylpyridine) diblock copolymer. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011