King-Fu Lin, Y. Fan, Hsuan‐Liang Chow
Aug 1, 2006
Citations
0
Influential Citations
8
Citations
Journal
Polymer International
Abstract
Impurities containing methylene bridges between 2-((2′-ethylhexyl)oxy)-5-methoxy-benzene molecules are inevitably formed during the synthesis of 1,4-bis(chloromethyl)-2-((2′-ethylhexyl)oxy)-5-methoxy-benzene, the monomer used in the preparation of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV), but they can be removed by double recrystallization of the monomer prior to polymerization. When impurities containing methylene bridges participate in a Gilch polymerization, the methylene bonds formed in the main chains are prone to break at 200 °C, that is, at least 150 °C below the major degradation temperature of defect-free MEH-PPV. Interestingly, the thermal treatment used to break the methylene bonds present reduces the chain aggregation of MEH-PPV during film formation and induces its blends with poly(2,3-diphenyl-5-octyl-p-phenylene-vinylene) (DPO-PPV) to form a morphology similar to that of block copolymers. Both significantly enhance the luminescence properties. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry