Synthesis and characterization of poly(3-hexylthiophene)/poly(3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate) rod-coil block copolymers by using atom transfer radical polymerization

In this study, polythiophene based rod-coil block copolymers (P3HT)47-b-(PMSMA)34 are synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The effects of altering the mix of solvent and processing temperature on the morphologies and photophysical properties of the block copolymers in both solution and solid state are investigated. The chemical structure of the prepared block copolymers is confirmed by NMR and FTIR analysis. TEM results show that different morphologies of aggregates can be obtained by varying the toluene/methanol ratios. Such aggregation leads to a significant red shift on the optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra of the P3HT-b-PMSMA in mixed solvents. The results of AFM, UV-Vis, and PL show that the morphologies and photophysical properties of P3HT-b-PMSMA films are also significantly affected by the curing temperature. Blue shifts on the optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra are observed upon increasing the curing temperature.