Liquid Crystalline Behavior and Optical Properties of Poly(2,5-dinonyloxy-p-phenylenevinylene)

Abstract

Poly(2,5-dinonyloxy- p -phenylenevinylene) prepared by dehydrochlorination polymerization of 2,5-dinonyloxy- p -xylylenedichloride has been found to begin to soften at about 463 K, and to be in the nematic liquid crystalline state upon melting. By cooling the polymer at a liquid crystalline state to room temperature, an oriented thin film was obtained, whose band-gap energy was substantially lower than that of the (amorphous) film prepared by casting chloroform solution of the same polymer. Anomalous temperature dependences of absorption and photoluminescence spectra of the polymer were also revealed.