Side chain alkyl groups have become the standard for incorporating solubilizing groups into conjugated polymers. However, the variety of alkyl groups available and their location on the polymer’s backbone can contribute to the packing of the polymer chains in many different ways, resulting in many different morphologies in the polymer that can affect its properties and performances. In this paper, we investigate the effects on the conductivity of nine phenothiazine-containing polyaniline derivatives (P1−P9) with alkyl or aryl side chains on the phenothiazine core while also varying the number of methyl groups on the p-phenylenediamine unit. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, ultraviolet−visible spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) were all used to study the polymers’ structures, physical and thermal properties, and morphologies. The t-butylphenyl substituent on the phenothiazine core seems to provide more rigidity in the polymer’s backbone resulting in higher Tg for series 3, while series 2 containing the 2-hexyldecyl-substituted polymers had the lowest Tg, which is attributed to the large volume of the side chain, that limits interchain interactions. Consequently, series 2 had the lowest conductivity. However, the strongest effect on the conductivity was seen from the tetramethyl groups on the PPDA unit, which resulted in the lowest conductivity in each series due to torsional strain (twisting) in the polymer’s backbone. The WAXS data suggest mostly
amorphous films; thus, the conductivity in these materials seems to be dominated by a multiscale charge transport phenomenon that occurs in amorphous conjugated materials. Our results will aid in the understanding of side chain engineering of PANI derivatives for their optimum performances.
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The importance of localized modes spectral contribution to thermal conductivity in amorphous polymers
Polymers are a unique class of materials from the perspective of normal mode analysis. Polymers consist of individual chains with repeating units and strong intra-chain covalent bonds, and amorphous arrangements among chains with weak inter-chain van der Waals and for some polymers also electrostatic interactions. Intuitively, this strong heterogeneity in bond strength can give rise to special features in the constituent phonons, but such effects have not been studied deeply before. Here, we use lattice dynamics and molecular dynamics to perform modal analysis of the thermal conductivity in amorphous polymers. We find an abnormally large population of localized modes in amorphous polymers, which is fundamentally different from amorphous inorganic materials. Contrary to the common picture of thermal transport, localized modes in amorphous polymers are found to be the dominant contributors to thermal conductivity. We find that a significant portion of the localization happens within individual chains, but heat is dominantly conducted when localized modes involve two chains. These results suggest localized modes generally play a key role in thermal transport for different polymers. The results provide an alternative perspective on why polymer thermal conductivity is generally quite low and gives insight into how to potentially change it.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10385173
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Communications Physics
- Volume:
- 5
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2399-3650
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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