Synthesis and electrochemical characterization of a new polymer constituted of alternating carbazole and oxadiazole moieties

Abstract

We report herein the synthesis and electrochemical characterization of a novel copolymer containing an electron rich carbazole moiety and an electron deficient oxadiazole unit - poly[N-(2′-ethylhexyl)-carbazole-3,6- diyl-1″,3″,4″-oxadiazole-2″,5″-diyl] (PCO). PCO can be dissolved in THF, CHCl3, xylene, and DMSO. The structure of the polymer is confirmed by FT-IR, NMR and elemental analysis. The optical and electronic properties of the polymer are investigated by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy as well as cyclic voltammetry. The results show that the polymer films emit greenish-blue light (λmax 485 nm) upon UV excitation. Both p-doping and n-doping processes are observed in cyclic voltammetric investigation. A comparison between the properties of polycarbazole and polycarbazole-oxadiazole has been presented.