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Theoretical investigation of substitution and end-group effects on poly(p-phenylene vinylene)s

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Abstract

Semi-empirical AM1 and ZINDO/S, as well as density function theory (DFT) method B3LYP/6-31G(d) quantum chemical calculations were carried out to study the electronic structures and optical properties of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) derivatives (PPVs) with 10 and 11 phenylene rings in the backbone. The calculations suggest that the assembly of alternate incorporation of CN and alkoxy substituted phenylene rings in the PPV backbone could be a good way to construct organic semiconductors with low HOMO/LUMO energy band-gaps. The effect of the end-group on the electronic structures and optical properties of the conjugated polymer was investigated by the calculated UV-Vis and UPS spectra. It was demonstrated that the aldehyde and phosphate end-groups have limited effects on the photophysical properties in the UV-visible range.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics & Information Displays; Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Chao Zheng, RunFeng Chen, Yang Wang & Wei Huang

  2. Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 3 Research Link, Singapore, 117602, Singapore

    JingFang Pan

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  1. Chao Zheng
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  2. JingFang Pan
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  3. RunFeng Chen
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  4. Yang Wang
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  5. Wei Huang
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Correspondence to RunFeng Chen or Wei Huang.

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Zheng, C., Pan, J., Chen, R. et al. Theoretical investigation of substitution and end-group effects on poly(p-phenylene vinylene)s. Sci. China Chem. 57, 435–441 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4996-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-013-4996-4

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