A comparative study on p-doping behavior of polythiophenes with CH3SO3H

Four kinds of polythiophenes have been doped with CH3SO3H in CHCl3 under air, oxygen, and nitrogen. In the doping of two types of poly(3-hexylthiophene)s, P3HexTh(Zn/Ni) and P3HexTh(Fe) with different contents of a head-to-tail unit, the p-doping occurs at a similar rate. The reaction between poly(3-dodecylthiophene), P3DodTh, and the acid takes place more rapidly. P3OBuTh with a butoxy substituent undergoes more facile p-doping and receives photochemical reaction with CHCl3, and this reaction obeys a pseudo-first-order rate law with a rate constant kobs of 1.42×10−5 s−1 at room temperature.