| Abstract: | To study the effect of nonconjugation on polymeric and photophysical properties of thiophene‐containing polymers, new light‐emitting copolymers comprising either alternate 2,5‐diphenylthiophene and vinylene or alternate 2,5‐diphenylthiophene and aliphatic ether segments were synthesized. Both copolymers contained 2,5‐diphenylthiophene as the major chromophore and emitted a sky bluish fluorescence in dilute solution (10?2 mg/mL). With a rigid and planarity structure and the concomitant crystallinity, the former copolymer (fully conjugated) possessed a higher quantum efficiency, a higher glass‐transition temperature, and a better thermal stability. In contrast, the latter copolymer (conjugated–nonconjugated) had better solubility and provided enhanced photophysical properties for the fabricated polymeric light‐emitting diode (PLED) device: at 15 V, the maximum current and brightness were 110 mA/cm2 and 4289 cd/m2, respectively, and the electroluminescence efficiency remained constant at approximately 4.9 cd/A in a voltage range of 8 to 14 V. The existence of intramolecular/intermolecular aggregates in the latter copolymer was corroborated from the the UV–vis and photoluminescence spectra of its solutions. With an increase in solution concentration, the shape and λmax of the photoluminescence spectrum were redshifted. In a solution with a concentration as high as 10 mg/mL, the redshift was so drastic that the photoluminescence spectrum was nearly identical to that of a solid‐film. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 6061–6070, 2004 |
