Poly(3-hexylthiophene) molecular bottlebrushes via ring-opening metathesis polymerization: Macromolecular architecture enhanced aggregation

Suk Kyun Ahn, Deanna L. Pickel, W. Michael Kochemba, Jihua Chen, David Uhrig, Juan Pablo Hinestrosa, Jan Michael Carrillo, Ming Shao, Changwoo Do, Jamie M. Messman, W. Michael Brown, Bobby G. Sumpter, S. Michael Kilbey

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report a facile synthetic strategy based on a grafting through approach to prepare well-defined molecular bottlebrushes composed of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (rr-P3HT) as the conjugated polymeric side chain. To this end, the exo-norbornenyl-functionalized P3HT macromonomer was synthesized by Kumada catalyst transfer polycondensation (KCTP) followed by postpolymerization modifications, and the resulting conjugated macromonomer was successfully polymerized by ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) in a controlled manner. The P3HT molecular bottlebrushes display an unprecedented strong physical aggregation upon drying during recovery, as verified by several analyses of the solution and solid states. This remarkably strong aggregation behavior is attributed to a significant enhancement in the number of π-π interactions between grafted P3HT side chains, brought about due to the bottlebrush architecture. This behavior is qualitatively supported by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)761-765
Number of pages5
JournalACS Macro Letters
Volume2
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 20 2013

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation1004083

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