Conjugated crosslinks boost the conductivity and stability of a single crystalline metal-organic framework

A linker molecule with four pendant thiophene functions was crystallized with Zr(iv) ions to form a semiconductive porous coordination solid (1.1 × 10^-5 S cm^-1). Oxidative treatment with FeCl₃ guests then coupled the thiophene units to form conjugated bridges as covalent crosslinks. The resulting hybrid of a metal-organic framework and conjugated polymer featured robust crystalline order that withstood long-term air exposure and broad pH (from 0 to 12) conditions. Moreover, the homocoupled thiophene units, conjugated through sulfide links (-S-) with the linker backbone, afforded higher electronic conductivity (e.g., >2.2 × 10^-3 S cm^-1), which is characteristic of conductive polymer prototypes of polythiophene and polyphenylene sulfide. The crosslinked solid also exhibited proton conductivity that could be increased broadly upon H₂SO₄ treatment (e.g., from 5.0 × 10^-7 to 1.6 × 10^-3 S cm^-1).

Close Relationships between NMR J-Coupling Alternation (JCA) and Molecular Properties of Carbon Chains

We propose a J-coupling alternation (JCA) value that is demonstrated to be a suitable parameter to evaluate the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) indirect spin-spin coupling constants (SSCCs) as a function of molecular properties of chains by increasing their length. As an application, we report a theoretical study of the SSCCs for the interactions between neighbor nuclei in increasingly patterned carbon chains within density functional theory. First, we examine the J-coupling constants between ¹H and ¹³C nuclei ( ⁿ J_HC) considering the separation distance, as well as between two adjacent ¹³C nuclei (¹ J_CC) considering their relative positions in polyynes and cumulenes. Further, we define and determine JCA in terms of the differences of ¹ J_CC, which is investigated as a function of several molecular properties, e.g., cohesive energy, characteristic vibrational frequency, average polarizability, and energy gap of the systems. We also determine JCA for other types of carbon chains, such as diphenyl-capped polyynes, polyacetylene and polythiophene. The behavior of JCA as a function of the energy gap may be related to highly π-conjugated low-band-gap carbon chains. Overall, JCA correlates very well with the electronic properties of these chains, especially with their energy gap, exhibiting positive values for pristine polyyne and polythiophene and negative values for pristine cumulene and plyacetylene. These findings indicate an alternative way to establish an appropriate SSCC descriptor that characterizes the electronic nature of the system, such as the proposed JCA value averaging the whole system, instead of using only the individual J-coupling values to give insights into the properties of large and extended systems.

Salt-induced thermochromism of a conjugated polyelectrolyte

We report here the photophysical properties of a water-soluble polythiophene with cationic side-chains in PBS buffer solution.

Soft nanotubes acting as confinement effecters and chirality inducers for achiral polythiophenes

Depending on their nanochannel sizes, soft nanotubes were able to not only control the conformation and aggregation state of encapsulated achiral polythiophene boronic acids but also induce chirality in the polythiophene chains that exhibit chiral recognition abilities for D, L-sugars.

Synthesis of TiO2-poly(3-hexylthiophene) hybrid particles through surface-initiated Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation

TiO2/conjugated polymers are promising materials in solar energy conversion where efficient photoinduced charge transfers are required. Here, a "grafting-from" approach for the synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles supported with conjugated polymer brushes is presented. Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), a benchmark material for organic electronics, was selectively grown from TiO2 nanoparticles by surface-initiated Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation. The grafting of the polymer onto the surface of the TiO2 nanoparticles by this method was demonstrated by (1)H and (13)C solid-state NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-visible spectroscopy. Sedimentation tests in tetrahydrofuran revealed improved dispersion stability for the TiO2@P3HT hybrid material. Films were produced by solvent casting, and the quality of the dispersion of the modified TiO2 nanoparticles was evaluated by atomic force microscopy. The dispersion of the P3HT-coated TiO2 NPs in the P3HT matrix was found to be homogeneous, and the fibrillar structure of the P3HT matrix was maintained which is favorable for charge transport. Fluorescence quenching measurements on these hybrid materials in CHCl3 indicated improved photoinduced electron-transfer efficiency. All in all, better physicochemical properties for P3HT/TiO2 hybrid material were reached via the surface-initiated "grafted-from" approach compared to the "grafting-onto" approach.

2008 Macromolecular Science and Engineering Division Award Lecture — Conjugated polymers: From micro-electronics to genomics

Conjugated polymers have received a lot of attention, since they combine the best features of metals or semiconductors with those of synthetic polymers. For instance, solar cells based on poly(2,7-carbazole) derivatives have revealed power-conversion efficiencies up to 6%. This class of materials could lead to printable and flexible photovoltaic devices. Moreover, water-soluble luminescent polythiophenes have allowed the specific, rapid, and ultra-sensitive detection of unlabelled DNA, RNA, or proteins. This new optical detection mechanism is based on electrostatic interactions between a cationic polythiophene derivative and negatively charged oligonucleotides. This method makes now possible the rapid assessment of the identity of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), genes, and pathogens without the need for nucleic acid amplification.