Poly(mono-, bi- or trifuran): effect of oligomer chain length on the electropolymerization performances and polymer properties

Abstract

Most recently, oligo-/polyfurans have regained widely attention due to their unique properties and promising applications in organic electronics. Herein, to acquire a thorough fundamental understanding of the electrosynthesis and properties of polyfuran (PFu) from different initial oligomers, the synthesis, fluorescence, and electropolymerization performances of α-oligofurans, namely furan (Fu), bifuran (2Fu), trifuran (3Fu), were comprehensively reported and the effect of oligomer chain length on the structure and properties of the resulting PFu films were evaluated. The oligofurans introduced here revealed higher fluorescence efficiency (0.05 for Fu, 0.19 for 2Fu and 0.27 for 3Fu) than the corresponding oligothiophenes and oligoselenophenes. The onset oxidation potential of oligofurans decreased obviously (1.25 V for Fu, 0.8 V for 2Fu, and 0.7 V for 3Fu) with the chain length of the starting monomers increasing, thus leading to the electrodeposition of high quality free-standing PFu films with improved optoelectronic properties. Structure characterization and properties of the as-formed PFu from different initial oligomers, including FT-IR, UV-vis, surface morphology, fluorescence, electroactivity and stability, electrochromic properties, etc., were systematically investigated and comprehensively discussed.