D-A conjugated polymers containing substituted thiophene, 1,3,4-oxadiazole and non-conjugation linkers: Synthesis and study of optical and electrochemical properties

Abstract

In this communication, we report synthesis and characterization of new D-A conjugated polymers (P1-P3) consisting of electron-donating (D) 3,4-didodecyloxythiophene, electron-accepting (A) 1,3,4-oxadiazole unit and non-conjugation linkers. The conjugated segment in P1-P3 contains only five aromatic rings resulting in short conjugation length, but has an alternate D-A arrangement which significantly enhances the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) interaction within the segment. As a result, these polymers exhibited low optical band gap in the range 2.51–2.76 eV. Fluorescence emission studies revealed that the polymer thin films emit intense blue light with emission maxima in the wavelength rage 430–480 nm. All three polymers undergo both oxidation and reduction processes under electrochemical conditions. Further, these polymers (P1–P3) exhibit low-lying HOMO and LUMO levels as a result of D-A structure of the conjugated segment. Polymer light-emitting devices were fabricated using these polymers as emissive layer with a device configuration of ITO/MoO 3/polymer/LiF/Al. The test device based on P2 emitted blue light with a low threshold voltage of 5 V. Z-scan studies reveal that the polymers exhibit a strong optical limiting behavior. The value of the nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) of polymers is of the order 10 −11m/W which indicates that these materials may be accomplished for fabricating optical limiters.