Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics

A supramolecular polymer gel is formed by host–guest interactions between a DB24C8-based bis(crown ether) and a copolymer containing the dibenzylammonium moiety. The gel shows both pH- and thermoresponsive behaviors, and excellent self-healing properties.

End-fluoroalkylated poly(3-buthylthiophene) with a well-defined structure and narrow molecular-weight distribution is successfully synthesized by quasi-living polymerization and fluoroalkylation on one end only. This polymer may be useful for controlling the surface and interfacial properties of semiconducting thin films, as demonstrated by the decrease of the contact angle of the solutions.

Poly(α-methylstyrene)s of varying syndiotacticity (59.1% to 79.2%) and controllable molecular weight (M_n = 4300–32 100 g mol⁻¹) with moderately narrow polydispersity indices (PDI ≈1.3) are synthesized via stereospecific living cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene using an FeCl₃-based initiating system at 0 °C. The glass-transition temperature and the thermal stability are found to depend on the syndiotacticity of the as-synthesized poly(α-methylstyrene).

Formal cycloaddition–retro-electrocyclization reactions between platinum(II) polyyne polymers and tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) successfully lower the polymer energy levels. Application of these polymers to p-type semiconducting materials in bulk-heterojunction solar cells suggests that the p-type performance decreases by approximately 5 to 10 times. Moreover, when a TCNE-adducted polymer is employed as an n-type semiconducting material, the generation of weak photocurrent is achieved.

Simultaneous small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering is applied to the guest-exchange phenomenon of syndiotactic-polystyrene cocrystals with chloroform on exposure to a liquid triethylene glycol dimethyl ether. It is found that a fully fledged guest-exchange process starts after an incubation time, accompanied by a significant expansion of the lamellar period and the occurrence of the ϵ cocrystal.