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Single-Molecule Spectroscopy and AFM Morphology Studies of a Diblock Copolymer Consisting of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) and Fullerene

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL32826, USA

Z. Hu and J. Zou contributed equally to this work.

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Jianhua Zou,

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL32826, USA

Z. Hu and J. Zou contributed equally to this work.

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Carsten Deibel,

Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian-University Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany

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Andre J. Gesquiere,

Corresponding Author

andre@mail.ucf.edu

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL32826, USA

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL 32826, USA. Fax: +1 407 882 2819Search for more papers by this author

Lei Zhai,

Corresponding Author

lzhai@mail.ucf.edu

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL32826, USA

Zhongjian Hu,

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL32826, USA

Z. Hu and J. Zou contributed equally to this work.

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Jianhua Zou,

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL32826, USA

Z. Hu and J. Zou contributed equally to this work.

Search for more papers by this author

Carsten Deibel,

Experimental Physics VI, Julius-Maximilian-University Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany

Search for more papers by this author

Andre J. Gesquiere,

Corresponding Author

andre@mail.ucf.edu

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL32826, USA

Lei Zhai,

Corresponding Author

lzhai@mail.ucf.edu

NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando FL32826, USA

First published: 18 October 2010

https://doi.org/10.1002/macp.201000482

Citations: 7

Abstract

A block copolymer containing P3HT and C₆₀ is synthesized and subjected to single-molecule spectroscopy (SMS) and AFM studies to investigate the impact of the C₆₀ on the P3HT chain conformation and the phase-separation behavior upon annealing, respectively. Both the SMS and the single-molecule polarization investigations indicate that the grafting of the C₆₀-containing block to the P3HT moiety does not significantly change its conformational structure. AFM studies on thin films of the block copolymer indicate that they are stable with microphase separation, while blended films of the block-copolymer precursor (without C₆₀) with PCBM undergo macroscale phase separation upon thermal annealing.