Terpolymer polyrotaxanes: a promising supramolecular system as electron-transporting materials for optoelectronics

摘要

Optical, electrochemical and surface-morphological properties of three terpolymer polyrotaxanes (1a, 1b and 1c) composed of 2,7-dibromo-9,9-dicyanomethylenefluorene encapsulated into y-cyclodextrin (γCD), β- or γ-persilylated cyclodextrin (PS-βCD, PS-γCD) cavities (acceptor) and 4,4'-dibromo-4"-methyltriphenylamine (donor) randomly distributed into 9,9-dioctylfluorene conjugated chains have been evaluated and compared to those of the reference 1. The role of the encapsulation on the thermal stability, solubility, film forming ability and transparency was also investigated. High fluorescence efficiency, almost identical normalized absorbance maximum in solution and solid-states of 1a, 1b and 1c provides the lower aggregation tendency. The fluorescence lifetimes (τ) of 1a, 1b and 1c follow a mono-exponential decay with a value τ= 1.11, 1.03 and 1.14 ns, compared with the neat 1, where a bi-exponential decay was identified. AFM studies reveal a smooth and homogenous surface morphology for polyrotaxanes than that of the reference. The electrochemical data provided that the investigated compounds exhibited n- and p-doping processes. The HOMO/LUMO energy levels 1a, 1b, 1c and 1 and in combination with the work function of anodic ITO glass substrates coated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) (-5.2 eV) and cathodic Ca (-2.8 eV) or Al (-2.2 eV) indicate that the compounds are electrochemically accessible as electron-transporting materials.