New thiophene-based donor-acceptor conjugated polymers carrying fluorene or cyanovinylene units: Synthesis, characterization, and electroluminescent properties

Abstract

Two new thiophene-based donor-acceptor (D-A) conjugated polymers, PDTOFV and PDTOCN, are synthesized and characterized. The polymers are readily soluble in common organic solvents and exhibit good thermal stability with onset decomposition temperature (T<inf>d</inf>) in the range 310-330°C. Cyclic voltammetry studies revealed that polymers possess low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels (-5.94 eV for PDTOFV and -5.86 eV for PDTOCN) and low-lying lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels (-3.35 eV for PDTOFV and -3.55 eV for PDTOCN). The optical band gap is calculated from onset absorption edge of the polymer film. The polymers exhibit green fluorescence with fluorescence quantum yields (?<inf>fl</inf>) of 38% and 42%, respectively, for PDTOFV and PDTOCN. Polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) are fabricated using these polymers with a device configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/Al. The device based on PDTOFV emitted green light with Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage (CIE) coordinate values of (0.25, 0.39). Whereas, the device based on PDTOCN showed white light emission with CIE coordinate values of (0.32, 0.35), which is very close to the values (0.33, 0.33) of standard white light emission. The threshold voltages of the PLEDs are determined by current density-voltage characteristics and are found to be 7.3 and 3.9 V for PDTOFV and PDTOCN, respectively. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers.