Electrosynthesis and characterization of a polyfluorene derivative with green-light-emitting property

Green-light-emitting poly(diphenylmethylenefluorene) (PDPMF) was synthesized electrochemically by direct anodic oxidation of diphenylmethylenefluorene (DPMF) in dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) and boron trifluoride diethyl etherate (BFEE) binary solution. The oxidation potential of DPMF in this medium was measured to be only 0.78 V versus Ag/AgCl, which was lower than that determined in CH2Cl2 (1.0 V versus Ag/AgCl) or acetonitrile (ACN) (1.16 V versus Ag/AgCl) with 0.1 mol L−1 tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate (Bu4NBF4) as the supporting electrolyte. The as-formed PDPMF films showed good electrochemical behavior and high thermal stability. Fluorescent spectra indicate that PDPMF is a good green-light-emitter with strong and bright green or yellow-green photoluminescence under 365 nm UV light.