Synthesis and characterization of low‐band‐gap conjugated polymers containing phenothiazine and benzo‐2,1,3‐thia‐/seleno‐diazole

Two phenothiazine‐based conjugated polymers, poly(3, 7‐divinylene‐N‐octyl‐phenothiazine‐alt‐benzo‐2,1,3‐ thiadiazole) (PQS) and poly(3,7‐divinylene‐N‐octyl‐phenothiazine‐alt‐benzo‐2,1,3‐selenodiazole) (PQSe) were synthesized by Heck coupling reaction. The chemical structures of the two polymers were confirmed by ¹H‐NMR and Ft‐IR. They showed good solubility in some common organic solvents such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), chloroform. The weight‐average molecular weight (Mw) of the polymers determined by GPC in THF against polystyrene standards was 3.7 × 10³ for PQS and 1.9 × 10³ for PQSe, respectively. The temperatures of 5% weight loss (T₅) were 385.0°C for PQS and 324.0°C for PQSe, respectively, determined by TGA measurements under nitrogen ambience. UV–vis absorption spectra of the polymer films showed the absorption maxima at 537 nm for PQS and 539 nm for PQSe, with the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 190 and 230 nm, respectively. The optical band gaps ( ) of the polymer films are 1.86 eV for PQS and 1.80 eV for PQSe, respectively. As the polymers have low‐band‐gap and broad absorption in the visible region, they may be used as potential light‐harvesting materials for photovoltaic devices (PVDs). Furthermore, photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the polymer solutions showed the emission maxima at 698 nm for PQS and 709 nm for PQSe, with FWHM of 152 nm and 167 nm, respectively, which revealed that these two polymers may be used as red and near infrared light‐emitting materials for polymeric light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.