Conducting polymers band gap

Source Eldo, J. and Ajayaghosh, A., New low band gap polymers Control of optical and electronic properties in near infrared absorbing ir-conjugated polysquaraines, Chem. Mater. 14, 410, 2002 Ajayaghosh, A., Intrinsically conducting low band gap polysquaraines via a-b type polycondensation, Int. J. Plast. Technol. 6, 117, 2003. 

When doped, low band-gap polymers have optical transitions in the infrared region of the spectmm, and therefore transmit more visible light in the conducting form than in the insulating form. This feature enables this class of conducting polymers to be investigated for a number of optical appHcations where both electrical conductivity and optical transparency are desired. 

Polyacetylene is considered to be the prototypical low band-gap polymer, but its potential uses in device applications have been hampered by its sensitivity to both oxygen and moisture in its pristine and doped states. Poly(thienylene vinylene) 2 has been extensively studied because it shares many of the useful attributes of polyacetylene but shows considerably improved environmental stability. The low band gap of PTV and its derivatives lends itself to potential applications in both its pristine and highly conductive doped state. Furthermore, the vinylene spacers between thiophene units allow substitution on the thiophene ring without disrupting the conjugation along the polymer backbone. 

There have been very few examples of PTV derivatives substituted at the vinylene position. One example poly(2,5-thienylene-1,2-dimethoxy-ethenylene) 102 has been documented by Geise and co-workers and its synthesis is outlined in Scheme 1-32 [133]. Thiophene-2,5-dicarboxaldehyde 99 is polymerized using a benzoin condensation the polyacyloin precursor 100 was treated with base to obtain polydianion 101. Subsequent treatment with dimethyl sulfate affords 102, which is soluble in solvents such as chloroform, methanol, and DMF. The molar mass of the polymer obtained is rather low (M = 1010) and its band gap ( ,.=2.13 eV) is substantially blue-shifted relative to PTV itself. Despite the low effective conjugation, the material is reasonably conductive when doped with l2 (cr=0.4 S cm 1). 

Polyfarylene vinylene)s form an important class of conducting polymers. Two representative examples of this class of materials will be discussed in some detail here. There are poly(l,4-phenylene vinylcne) (PPV) 1, poly(l,4-thienylene viny-lenc) (PTV) 2 and their derivatives. The polymers are conceptually similar PTV may be considered as a heterocyclic analog of PPV, but has a considerably lowci band gap and exhibits higher conductivities in both its doped and undoped stales. The semiconducting properties of PPV have been shown to be useful in the manufacture of electroluminescent devices, whereas the potential utility of PTV has yet to be fully exploited. This account will provide a review of synthetic approaches to arylene vinylene derivatives and will give details an how the structure of the materials relate to their performance in real devices. 

Conjugated polymers are generally poor conductors unless they have been doped (oxidized or reduced) to generate mobile charge carriers. This can be explained by the schematic band diagrams shown in Fig. I.23 Polymerization causes the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the monomer to split into n and n bands. In solid-state terminology these are the valence and conduction bands, respectively. In the neutral forms shown in Structures 1-4, the valence band is filled, the conduction band is empty, and the band gap (Eg) is typically 2-3 eV.24 There is therefore little intrinsic conductivity. 

The electronic band structure of a neutral polyacetylene is characterized by an empty band gap, like in other intrinsic semiconductors. Defect sites (solitons, polarons, bipolarons) can be regarded as electronic states within the band gap. The conduction in low-doped poly acetylene is attributed mainly to the transport of solitons within and between chains, as described by the intersoliton-hopping model (IHM) . Polarons and bipolarons are important charge carriers at higher doping levels and with polymers other than polyacetylene. 

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