Abstract
Using small-angle neutron scattering, we conducted a detailed conformational study of poly(3-alkylthiophene) solutions in deuterated dichlorobenzene. The focus was placed on addressing the influence of the spatial arrangement of side chain constituents on backbone conformation. We demonstrate that by introducing a branch point in the side chain, side chain steric interactions may promote torsional motion between backbone units, resulting in greater chain flexibility. Our findings highlight the key role of topological isomerism in determining the chain rigidity and throw new light on the debate about the effective approaches for optimizing the electronic properties of conducting polymers via side chain engineering.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7745-7749 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 15 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2019 |
Funding
† This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, and world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). This research at the SNS and CNMS of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. W. D. H. acknowledges the support of the ORNL HSRE program. We greatly appreciate the EQ-SANS beamtime at the SNS.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Office of Basic Energy Sciences | |
| Scientific User Facilities Division | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| Scuola Normale Superiore |