Synthesis and characterization of a novel green photoluminescent silicon-containing poly(p-phenylenevinylene)

A novel solution processable photoluminescent polymer containing silyl groups has been successfully synthesized through a polycondensation reaction. The polymer was characterized through FT-IR, NMR, UV-vis spectroscopy, photoluminescent spectroscopy (PL), elemental analysis and cyclic voltammetry (CV). A TGA analysis shows that the polymer is stable up to 300 °C both in air and in nitrogen. The UV-vis absorption spectra for both the solution and film samples are very similar. The band gap obtained from the optical spectra is 2.53 eV. The maximum emissions of photoluminescence are at 494 and 507 nm for the solution and film samples, respectively. The UV-vis spectrum of its polymer film also shows a very small temperature dependence. A cyclic voltammogram illustrates that the polymer can be reversibly n-doped and dedoped in a negative sweep and irreversibly p-doped during a positive sweep. All of the results demonstrate that the obtained polymer is a promising green-light emission material for PLED applications.