| Conjugated polymers are organic semiconductors which are of interest to a wide variety of optical, electronic, opto-electronic, and sensory applications; including light emitting diodes, thin film transistors, photovoltaic cells, and chemical sensors. While conducting polymers have some similarities to conventional polymeric materials, it is clearly the extensive main chain pi-conjugated structure and its implicit electro-optical properties that make it distinct. The same structure, however, gives it "chain stiffness" that affects its physical behavior. As a direct consequence of this, virtually all unsubstituted conducting polymers are found to be intractable and insoluble.; This dissertation details the issue of tailoring the electro-optical properties and processability of conjugated polymers via a novel "precursor polymer approach". In this approach, electroactive side group units of either similar or different kind are tethered to a polymeric backbone. This combination determines the eventual electro-optical and electrochemical properties of these polymers including their ability to form ultrathin films. Thus, the desired macroscopic property is transformed by designing new precursor polymer structures, manipulating polymer-based compositions and blends, and the exploration and exploitation of their electrochemical processing conditions. In Chapters 2, 3, and 4, we have used single or binary electroactive compositions of species such as pyrrole, thiophene, carbazole and terthiophene are tethered to a linear polymeric backbone. Besides, the linear approach, in Chapters 5 and 6, we have also explored the use of generational dendrimers as backbone with carbazole units attached as peripheral electroactive groups.; These precursor polymers were then subjected to electrochemical cross-linking to generate high optical quality ultrathin films on a conducting substrate such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or Au surfaces. The reaction of such electroactive species inimically leads to intra- and inter-molecularly linked structures where the formation of conjugated chain oligomers or polymers, ultimately determines their electronic and optical nature. The associated structural phase behavior imparted by the backbone during cross-linking, strongly impacts the physical properties manifested by each class of precursor polymer. In summary, we have found a rational protocol for the design and synthesis of new conjugated polymeric materials based on the electrochemical crosslinking of precursor polymers exhibiting unique processability and electro-optical properties. |
