Document Type
Article
Abstract
Hydrogen-bonding-induced ordered assembly of poly(3-alkylthiophene)s derivatives bearing carboxylic acid groups has been investigated from diluted and concentrated solutions to solid films using ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy, polarized optical microscopy, and four-point probe conductivity measurements. In dilute solutions, the polymer undergoes a spontaneous structural transition from disordered coil-like to ordered rodlike conformations, which is evidenced by time-dependent chromism. Many factors such as alkyl-chain length, types of solvents, and temperature are studied to understand the assembly behavior. Transition kinetics of the assembly process reveals a universal second-order rate law, indicating an intermolecular origin due to hydrogen bonding. When more concentrated, hydrogen bonding drives nematic liquid-crystalline gelation above a critical concentration and the gels are thermally reversible. Under an appropriate balance of mechanical and thermal stresses, uniform liquid-crystalline monodomains are obtained through the application of a mechanical shear force. The dried films made from the sheared solutions display both optical and electrical anisotropies, with a more than 200% increase in charge transport parallel to the direction of shear as opposed to that in the perpendicular one.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Published in ACS Omega, Volume 2, Issue 11, 2017, pages 8526-8535.
Rights
© 2017 American Chemical Society
This is an open access article published under an ACS AuthorChoice License, which permits copying and redistribution of the article or any adaptations for non-commercial purposes.
APA Citation
Bilger, D. W., Figueroa, J. A., Redeker, N. D., Sarkar, A., Stefik, M., & Zhang, S. (2017). Hydrogen-bonding-directed ordered assembly of carboxylated poly(3-alkylthiophene)s. ACS Omega, 2(11), 8526–8535. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.7b01361