Radiation-induced polymerization of 3-octylthiophene

摘要

In order to develop a new synthetic method and to study mechanism of oxidative polymerization of conducting polymers, polymerization of 3-octylthiophene in several organic solvents by γ-irradiation was examined. Polymers bimodal distribution with molecular weights at 500-1000 and 2000-3000 were generated by the irradiation of chloroform solutions. The values of monomer conversion (G(-M)) decreased from 445 to 10 with doses from 0.99 kGy to 594 kGy. The large G(-M) values and dose dependence of G(-M) cannot be explained with widely accepted mechanism for electrochemical polymerization or chemical oxidative polymerization. Another mechanism, which proceeds through chain reactions, is proposed. This mechanism explains the large G(-M) and the dependence on the dose.