e-Polymers 2003, no. 039. ISSN 1618-7229 http://www.e-polymers.org Novel soluble blue emitting PPV-like polymers: synthesis and characterization Jonas Gruber 1 *, Rosamaria W. C. Li 1 , Patricia Ponce 1 , Adriano R. V. Benvenho 2 , Regina M. Q. Mello 3 , Ivo A. Hümmelgen 2 1 Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 26077, 05513-970 São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Fax +55 11 3815 5579; jogruber@iq.usp.br 2 Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná, C. P. 19044, 81531-990 Curitiba, PR, Brazil 3 Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Paraná, C. P. 19081, 81531-990 Curitiba, PR, Brazil (Received: June 10, 2003; published: August 7, 2003) Abstract: We report on the electrochemical synthesis of two novel soluble PPV-like polymers, poly(2-decyloxy-4,4'-biphenylenevinylene), DOPBV, and poly(2-decyl- sulfonyl-4,4'-biphenylenevinylene), DSPBV, their spectroscopic and thermal characterization as well as their electrical properties. We also report on the use of sandwich devices Au/DOPBV/Al and Ni/DSPBV/Al to investigate the charge injection and transport characteristics, besides other important parameters such as the optical energy gap and the HOMO energy level, leading to an estimate of the ionization potential and electron affinity of these polymers. Introduction The past decades have witnessed unabated interest in the synthesis and charac- terization of poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) and its derivatives, offering new opportunities in the development of novel optoelectronic devices based on organic polymer films [1]. Although blue emitting organic materials have been reported [2], their stability and efficiency are still lower when compared to related red and green emitters. Therefore, novel blue emitting organic materials remain targets of synthetic interest. In this contribution, we describe the synthesis and characterization of two novel PPV- like polymers, poly(2-decyloxy-4,4’-biphenylenevinylene), DOPBV, (Fig. 1, 1), and poly(2-decylsulfonyl-4,4’-biphenylenevinylene), DSPBV (2), presenting alternating vinylene and biphenylene units substituted by long chain alkoxy (electron donating) or alkylsulfonyl (electron withdrawing) groups, which ensure high solubility in common organic solvents and, hence, allow formation of high quality thin films by spin-coating. We also describe the construction of sandwich devices Au/DOPBV/Al and Ni/DSPBV/Au to investigate the charge injection and transport characteristics, besides other important parameters such as optical energy gaps and HOMO levels, leading to estimates of the ionization potentials and electron affinities of these polymers. 1 Unauthenticated Download Date | 7/29/18 3:14 PM