Electropolymerized Three-Dimensional Randomly Branched EDOT-Containing Copolymers

Abstract

The potential of 2,2';3,2″-terthiophene (3T) as branching units in 3D copolymers is presented with EDOT as an example comonomer. Branched EDOT/3T polythiophenes were prepared by electropolymerization, and their electrochemical and optical properties are discussed. Two different approaches were employed: (i) the direct electropolymerization of a novel branched thiophene monomer (3TE3) consisting of a 3T core that contains three outer EDOT end groups and (ii) the electrochemical copolymerization of a EDOT/3T mixture in different ratios from [1:1] to [1:10]. Cyclic voltammetric and vis spectrometric experiments show that the EDOT content within the polymer has a strong influence on the electronic properties of the material: with increasing EDOT content, the HOMO-LUMO gap is decreased. To prove copolymer formation of EDOT and 3T, chemically synthesized reference copolymers of EDOT and 3T were prepared by oxidative coupling using FeCl3, and their optical and electronic properties were compared to those of the electrodeposited films. In addition, the copolymer formation is indicated by the comparison of the electrochemical and spectroscopic results with those of the homopolymers P3T and PEDOT.