Polybenzobisimidazole‐derived two‐dimensional supramolecular polymer

We report a novel crystalline supramolecular polybenzobisimidazole (SP-PBBI) capable of providing a two-dimensional polymer (2DSP-PBBI) by liquid-phase exfoliation. A regular arrangement of rigid rod-like polybenzobisimidazole (PBBI) chains is achieved by interchain hydrogen bonding. Titration of 2DSP-PBBI with cobalt chloride (CoCl2) using UV-Vis spectroscopy demonstrates the presence of bidentate NO ligands on the PBBI backbone and NO–Co(II) complexation. Imaging analysis using atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals the planar surface morphology of exfoliated 2DSP-PBBI sheets with lateral dimensions of <1 μm and thickness of <30 nm. The size of the polymer crystal growth is tuned by employing condensation/precipitation polymerization under nonisothermal conditions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 1095–1101