New Semiconducting Poly(arylene sulfide)s: Synthesis, Characterization, and Optical Properties

New semiconducting soluble poly(arylene sulfide)s were synthesized by Wittig polycondensation. The arylene moieties consist of distyrylbiphenyl (P1) and distyrylbithiophene (P2) π-conjugated systems. The polymers are fully amorphous and show good thermal stability. The absorption and photoluminescence properties of the polymers were investigated. P1 film has an optical gap of 2.95 eV and exhibits green-blue fluorescence. P2 shows a longer effective conjugation length with a gap of 2.42 eV and emits in the orange region. The HOMO/LUMO energy levels were estimated by cyclic voltammetry measurements. Single-layer diodes were fabricated and show relatively low turn-on voltages.