Theoretical investigation of the tunable behavior of p-n copolymers based on oligothiophenes and 1,4-bis(oxadiazolyl)-benzene

Semiempirical calculations were carried out on several model oligomers to investigate the tunable behavior of p-n copolymers with the repeating units constructed by oligothiophenes as the pi-excessive type blocks and 1,4-bis(oxadiazolyl) benzene as the pi-deficient type block. The calculated evolutions of the HOMO and LUMO of the model oligomers were in good agreement with the experimental oxidation and reduction potentials of the corresponding polymers. The effect of the length of the oligothiophene on the electronic structures and optical properties was elucidated by analyzing the HOMO and LUMO spatial distribution patterns of the model oligomers. When the number of thiophene rings increases, the HOMO and LUMO are contributed mostly from the oligothiophene segments and either the introduced single positive or negative charge focuses on the oligothiophene segments. The absorption spectra of polymers were also simulated by performing calculations on the corresponding oligomers. Good matches were observed between the calculated absorption spectra and the experimental UV-vis spectra of the corresponding polymers. The study shows that the backbone modification of the p-n copolymer, that is, changing the number of thiophene unit in the p-n diblock copolymer, greatly modifies the optical properties of the polymer.