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Direct Observation of Alkyl Chain Interdigitation in Conjugated Polyquarterthiophene Self‐Organized on Graphite Surfaces
Author(s) -
Keg Peisi,
Lohani Anup,
Fichou Denis,
Lam Yeng Ming,
Wu Yiliang,
Ong Beng S.,
Mhaisalkar Subodh G.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200800012
Subject(s) - alkyl , lamellar structure , highly oriented pyrolytic graphite , polymer , materials science , graphite , scanning tunneling microscope , side chain , conjugated system , crystallography , chain (unit) , self assembly , chemical engineering , chemical physics , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , astronomy , engineering
A solution processible polymer—poly(3,3‴‐didodecylquaterthiophene) (PQT‐12) is investigated at the liquid/solid interface using the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Two‐dimensional ordered films made up of self‐assembled domains, with dimensions of 100 nm × 50 nm adsorbed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were formed. These domains consist of parallel lamellar polymer chains, with the alkyl chains forming interdigitated structures, along with U‐shaped and closed ring segments of the polymer chains. A polymer chain packing model is proposed herein, which attempts to propose a correlation between the packing of long chains and charge mobilities. These STM results could help in understanding the relationship between the extended conjugation and molecular organization of the PQT‐12 chains.