Preparation, hybrid formation with single-walled carbon nanotube, and film morphology of pyrene-containing polysiloxanes

Palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions of bis(tributylstannyl)pyrene and diethynylpyrene with α,ω-di(bromothienyl)oligo(dimethylsiloxane) gave the corresponding polymers whose backbones were composed of pyrene-containing π-conjugated units and oligo(dimethylsiloxane) chains. These polymers exhibited red-shifted photoluminescence bands in solutions, probably due to the intramolecular stacking of the π-conjugated chromophores. Ball milling of the polymers with single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) afforded the soluble polymer-SWNT hybrid substances. Film morphology of the polymers was investigated by atomic force microscopy, showing the microphase-separated structure.