Aggregation and Gelation of Fully Conjugated Rigid-Rod Polymers. Poly(2,5-dialkyl-1,4-phenyleneethynylene)s

Autor: Yoshi Okamoto, Shiro Matsuoka, T. K. Kwei, Wen-Yao Huang
Rok vydání: 2001
Předmět:
Zdroj: Macromolecules. 34:7166-7171
ISSN: 1520-5835
0024-9297
DOI: 10.1021/ma010374s
Popis: A series of π-conjugated rodlike polymers, poly(2,5-dialkyl p-phenyleneethynylene)s, PPE's, were synthesized with alkyl groups of n-butyl (4a), n-octyl (4b), n-tetradecyl (4c), 2-ethylhexyl (4d), and 2-cyclohexylethyl (4e). Polymers with linear alkyl side groups (4a, 4b, and 4c) formed gels in toluene solutions, but polymers with branched (4d) or bulky (4e) side groups did not. Copolymers also did not form gels. Gels of PPE-4b and 4c show liquid crystalline structures at high concentrations. In the DSC cooling scans of toluene solutions, the primary processes of gelation are identified as distinct exotherms. In the case of PPE-4c, the primary exotherm was followed by secondary exotherms. Comparison of DSC scans of nascent and aged gels led to the conclusion that molecular arrangement in the aged gel continued beyond the initial process to result in more ordered microstructures. The fluorescence emission spectra of freshly prepared PPE-4b solutions showed two peaks at 425 and 450 nm over a wide range of co...
Databáze: OpenAIRE