Preparation of Poly(2, 5-furandiylvinylene) Films

Abstract

Poly(2, 5-furandiylvinylene) '(PFV), which is expected to exhibit re latively small bandgap and low ionization potential, was synthesized via new precursor. routes. We found that furan rings in the PFV precursor are cloven and subsequently converted to carbonyl gro ups in the presence of acid. Thus, the removal of hydrochloric acid generated during conversion to PFV from a sulfonium polyelectrolyte precursor was indispensable for the preparation of high quality PFV films. We employed three methods; 1) use of alcohols in place of water for polymerization solvent and preserve from exposure to the air during conversion processing, 2) substitution of a sulfonio-pendant with an ethoxyl group, and 3). substitution of chloride ion with a strong nucleophilic group such as sodium ethoxide.
Chemical defects in PFV films prepared via each ro ute were examined using UV-vis and IR spectroscopy. Spectroscopic observations showed that firstly, the smaller the influence of acid is, the less the chemical defects on the PFV chains are and secondly, three methods employed are very effective to prepare high quality PFV thin films.