Electrogenerated chemiluminescence,a chemiluminescent polymer based on poly(vinyl-9,10-diphenylanthracene)

The electrochemistry, absorption, photoluminescence and electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of poly(vinyl-9,10-diphenylanthracene) thin films on various substrates in various solvents is described. The electrochemical behavior of the polymer film is very similar to that for 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA) in N,N-dimethylformamide, indicating that the multiple electroactive groups in the polyvinyl chain do not interact strongly. In situ absorbance measurements of the neutral, oxidized, or reduced polymer films indicate that all of the pendant DPA groups in the chain are electrochemically active during oxidation and reduction. Absorption, photoluminescence, and ECL spectra after potential pulsing or cyclic voltammetric experiments show the presence of components at longer wavelengths than those for the precursor molecules. Such longer wavelength components might be, as in the case of DPA, attributed to the formation of stable products from the decomposition of DPA radical ions.