Poly{(9,9-dihexyl-9H-fluoren-2,7-ylene)-alt-[3-(2-hexyloxy-1,5-
phenylene)-5-(1,4-phenylene)-4,5-dihydro-1-phenyl-1H-
pyrazole]} (PFPZ2)
Table 1 Molecular weights and thermal properties of the polymers
a
a
Polymers
Yield (%)
Mw
Mw/Mn
Tdb/uC
Tgc/uC
PFPZ1
PFPZ2
PFPZ3
85
80
81
39100
33200
37100
2.33
1.53
1.45
387
376
380
162
111
80
PFPZ2 was obtained as a bright yellow powder with a yield of
80% from the reaction of 7a with 8 according to the procedure
described for the synthesis of polymer PFPZ1. 1H NMR
(CDCl3, 400 MHz, d/ppm): 8.33–8.00 (m, 4 H), 7.79–7.11 (m,
12 H), 7.01–6.81 (m, 2 H), 5.60 (m, 1 H), 4.29–4.20 (m, 2 H),
3.82–3.80 (m, 2 H), 2.05 (br, 4 H), 1.95–0.74 (m, 33 H). 13C
NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz, d/ppm): 151.75, 151.60, 151.53,
147.22, 147.04, 145.08, 144.25, 143.62, 141.70, 141.62, 141.08,
139.76, 139.44, 139.19, 139.10, 135.82, 134.11, 131.82, 131.73,
131.63, 130.07, 128.93, 128.74, 128.70, 128.39, 128.27, 127.32,
127.14, 126.10, 125.89, 125.57, 124.08, 121.49, 121.20, 121.07,
120.01, 119.80, 118.93, 113.44, 111.71, 68.45, 68.23, 55.26,
55.11, 42.09, 40.39, 40.25, 36.99, 31.54, 31.39, 29.65, 29.33,
29.09, 28.77, 25.95, 25.86, 25.52, 23.75, 22.66, 22.53, 21.98,
14.07, 13.96. FT-IR (KBr, n/cm21): 3073, 3030, 2927, 2855,
1598, 1571, 1499, 1465, 1391, 1324, 1248, 1118, 1070, 999, 872,
816, 746, 724, 692, 542. Anal. Calcd for (C52H60N2O)n: C,
85.67; H, 8.30; N, 3.84. Found: C, 85.09; H, 8.41; N, 3.88%.
a Molecular weights and polydispersity indices were determined by
GPC in THF using polystyrene as the standard. b Onset decomposi-
tion temperature measured by TGA under N2. c Glass transition
temperature measured by DSC under N2.
side chain linked to the triarylpyrazoline unit. Uniform and
transparent films on substrates, such as ITO-coated glasses and
microslides, can be obtained by spin-casting the solutions in
toluene (1%) at a spin rate of 1500 rpm. Their molecular
weights were determined by gel permeation chromatography
(GPC) using polystyrene as the standard. The results are listed
in Table 1. These copolymers have weight-average molecular
weights (Mw) of 33200–39100 with polydispersity indices (Mw/
Mn) of 1.45–2.33. From GPC results, PFPZ2 and PFPZ3 have
a relative narrow polydispersity index. The reason may be that
these two polymers have a better solubility in the reaction
system due to the long alkyl side chain linked to the
triarylpyrazoline unit. Thus, the reagents can react with each
other enough and equably to afford a narrow molecular
distribution. The thermal properties of the polymers were
investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC: heating
at 10 uC min21 in nitrogen) and thermogravimetric analysis
(TGA: heating at 10 uC min21 in nitrogen). As shown in
Table 1 and Fig. 1, all these polymers possess excellent thermal
stability with high onset decomposition temperatures (Td) in
the range of 376 uC to 387 uC, and no weight loss was observed
at lower temperatures. The glass transition temperatures (Tg)
of the polymers range from 80 uC to 162 uC. These Tg values
are higher than those of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (POF)
(y51 uC)30 and poly(9,9-dihexylfluorene) (PHF) (y55 uC),31
in which each repeating fluorene unit contains two flexible
n-octyl or n-hexyl chains at C-9. It is evident that the incorpora-
tion of triarylpyrazoline units in the main chain can increase
the Tg of fluorene-based polymers. This is very important for
such polymers used as emissive materials in PLEDs.32
Poly{(9,9-dihexyl-9H-fluorene-2,7-ylene-alt-[3-(2-dodecyloxy-
1,5-phenylene)-5-(4-phenylene)-4,5-dihydro-1-phenyl-1H-
pyrazole]} (PFPZ3)
PFPZ3 was obtained as a bright yellow powder with a yield of
81% from the reaction of 7b with 8 according to the procedure
1
described above. H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz, d/ppm): 8.32–
8.01 (m, 4 H), 7.79–7.13 (m, 12 H), 7.02–6.85 (m, 2 H), 5.60 (m,
1 H), 4.21 (m, 2 H), 3.82–3.78 (m, 2 H), 2.05 (br, 4 H), 1.94–0.74
(m, 45 H). 13C NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz, d/ppm): 151.75,
151.61, 147.24, 145.09, 141.64, 140.09, 139.76, 139.45, 133.44,
131.89, 131.87, 131.74, 130.49, 130.10, 128.94, 128.86, 128.75,
128.71, 128.62, 128.42, 128.30, 127.43, 127.16, 126.73, 126.11,
125.91, 125.56, 124.49, 121.50, 121.20, 120.01, 119.81, 118.96,
113.45, 111.72, 68.48, 68.26, 55.27, 55.11, 42.10, 40.40, 31.89,
31.40, 29.65, 29.35, 29.14, 28.82, 26.30, 26.20, 25.90, 23.77,
22.66, 22.55, 14.11, 13.96. FT-IR (KBr, n/cm21): 3071, 3029,
2925, 2853, 1637, 1598, 1499, 1464, 1389, 1326, 1250, 1117,
1069, 877, 815, 747, 693, 540. Anal. Calcd for (C58H72N2O)n: C,
85.66; H, 8.92; N, 3.44. Found: C, 85.12; H, 8.83; N, 3.49%.
The UV-Vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectra
of the polymers in films (spun-cast from the corresponding
polymers in toluene at a concentration of 10 mg mL21) on
microslides are shown in Fig. 2 and 3. As shown in Fig. 2, the
absorption onsets occur at 454, 457, 458 nm for PFPZ1,
PFPZ2, PFPZ3, and give two peaks at 339, 395 nm, 337,
399 nm and 336, 398 nm for these three polymers, respectively.
The absorbances are attributed to the p–p* transitions of these
polymers. From the onset wavelengths, the optical band gaps
can be estimated to be 2.71–2.73 eV. All these films emit green
EL device fabrications
For the fabrication of the devices, glass substrates coated with
indium–tin oxide (ITO) with a sheet resistance of 30 O c21
(CSG Co. Ltd.) were cleaned sequentially in ultrasonic baths of
aqueous ionic detergent, acetone and anhydrous ethanol. A
thin film layer of PEDOT (Baytron P 4083) (90 nm) (PEDOT is
poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with polystyrene sulfonic
acid) and the polymers (60 nm) (from a 10 mg mL21 solution of
the polymers in toluene solution) were spin-coated on the ITO
surface at 1500 rpm for 30 s, after which a thin layer of Ba
(4 nm)/Al (170 nm) was deposited on the polymer film by
thermal evaporation under a vacuum of 1026 Torr. The active
area of the device was about 0.15 cm2. The applied dc bias
voltages for EL devices were in a forward direction (ITO,
positive; Ba/Al, negative). The current–voltage characteristics
were measured on a voltmeter and an amperometer, respec-
tively. The EL efficiency and brightness measurements were
carried out with a calibrated silicon photodiode. All the
measurements of the EL devices were carried out in air at room
temperature.
Results and discussion
The resulting polymers readily dissolve in solvents, e.g., THF,
CH2Cl2, CHCl3, toluene and xylene. This is partially due to the
hexyl side chain attaching to the fluorene moiety and n-alkyl
Fig. 1 Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) curves of the polymers
(under a nitrogen atmosphere at a heating rate of 10 uC min21).
3 9 8
J . M a t e r . C h e m . , 2 0 0 4 , 1 4 , 3 9 6 – 4 0 1