New soluble anthracene-based polymer for opto-electronic applications

A new anthracene-based polymer containing the isosorbide group in the side chain (PPVIs-An) has been synthesized via Wittig reaction. The polymer is soluble in common organic solvents and shows good film-forming abilities. The macromolecular structure was characterized by NMR and FT-IR spectroscopies. This organic material was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis and showed an amorphous behavior with a Tg of 48 °C. The surface property of the PPVIs-An film was analyzed by contact angle and by atomic force microscopy. The optical properties of this organic semi-conductor were investigated by UV–Visible absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopies. The polymer exhibits a blue fluorescence in dilute solution and a green emission in thin film. The introduction of the polar isosorbide groups shown to improve the PL intensity, and a quantum yield of 72 % was obtained. The absence of π–π interaction between the chromophore units in polymer thin layer at fundamental electronic state was observed, due to the presence of steric repulsions between anthracene and isosorbide groups. The HOMO–LUMO energy levels were determined by cyclic voltammetry. An ITO/PPVIs-An/Al single-layer device was elaborated and investigated using current–voltage measurements which show a turn-on voltage of 5.3 V. The conduction mechanism seems to be a space-charge-limited current with exponential trap distribution at high applied bias voltage. The electrical transport properties of this device were studied as a function of frequency (100 Hz–10 MHz) and applied bias in impedance spectroscopy analyses.