Cross-Linked Conjugated Polymer Fibrils: Robust Nanowires from Functional Polythiophene Diblock Copolymers

A series of poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT)-based diblock copolymers were prepared and examined in solution for their assembly into fibrils, and post-assembly cross-linking into robust nanowire structures. P3HT-b-poly(3-methanol thiophene) (P3MT), and P3HT-b-poly(3-aminopropyloxymethyl thiophene) (P3AmT) diblock copolymers were synthesized using Grignard metathesis (GRIM) polymerization. Fibrils formed from solution assembly of these copolymers are thus decorated with hydroxyl and amine functionality, and cross-linking is achieved by reaction of diisocyanates with the hydroxyl and amine groups. A variety of cross-linked structures, characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), were produced by this method, including dense fibrillar sheets, fibril bundles, or predominately individual fibrils, depending on the chosen reaction conditions. In solution, the cross-linked fibrils maintained their characteristic vibronic structure in solvents that would normally disrupt (dissolve) the structures.