Conjugated polymers for thin film coating process

In this paper, we present the syntheses of the conjugated polymers of different “effective molecular weights.” The goal is to be able to optimize the thin film coating process without compromising the electronic, optical and electroactive properties. Our strategy for controlling the effective molecular weight is to synthesize a double-strand conducting polymer that is an inter-polymer complex of a polymeric dopant and a conjugated polymer. The first strand of the two-strand complex is either a polyaniline or a polypyrrole chain, while the second strand is a poly(acrylic acid). The molecular weight of poly(acrylic acid) is used as a parameter for adjusting the coating and film-forming properties. We found that the inter-polymer complexes are dispersible in water. The dispersion stability is strongly dependent on the molecular weight of the poly(acrylic acid) strand. The dispersion is more stable for polymers synthesized with higher molecular weight of poly(acrylic acid). We also found that the particle size and particle morphology are dependent on the effective molecular weight.