Abstract
Herein, poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PBA)-grafted poly(thiophene phenylene) (PThP) (PThP-g-PBA) conducting polymers have been synthesised to introduce the softness and adhesiveness of PBA to a rigid conjugated PThP backbone. We investigate the effects of PBA chain lengths on the morphological, optical, electrical and mechanical properties of the graft copolymers, using atomic force microscopy (AFM), electrochemical and in situ spectroelectrochemical analysis and stress-strain measurements. Despite the insulating nature of the grafted PBA side chains, the graft copolymers with short to medium graft lengths (17 and 30 units) showed comparable electroactivity to the ungrafted PThP and appreciable electrical conductivity, while graft length of 60 units significantly diminished electrical properties of the PThP. All of the graft copolymers displayed significant adhesive properties, characterized both macro- and microscopically, showing enhancement in the adhesion force with increasing PBA side chain length. In addition, the adhesion as well as solution processability of the graft copolymers were utilised in fabrication of a stretchable strain sensor based on these copolymers. This work presents a simple approach to producing solution-processable adhesive conducting polymers for flexible and stretchable electronics.
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