Issue 18, 2011
From the journal:

Soft Matter

Synthesis and morphology of new asymmetric star polymers of poly[4-(9,9-dihexylfloren-2-yl)styrene]-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) and their non-volatile memory device applications†

Jung-Ching Hsu,a   Chaoxu Li,b   Kenji Sugiyama,c   Raffaele Mezzenga,*b   Akira Hirao*d  and  Wen-Chang Chen*ae  

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
E-mail: chenwc@ntu.edu.tw

b ETH Zurich, Food & Soft Materials Science, Institute of Food Nutrition & Health, Zürich, Switzerland
E-mail: raffaele.mezzenga@agrl.ethz.ch

c Department of Chemical Science and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience and Applied Chemistry, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan

d Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan
E-mail: ahirao@polymer.titech.ac.jp

e Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract

We report the synthesis, morphology, and properties of new 3-arm AB22 and 5-arm AB44 asymmetric amphiphilic star polymers of poly[4-(9,9-dihexylfloren-2-yl)styrene]-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P(St-Fl)-b-P2VP), with narrow molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn < 1.11). The asymmetric star polymers were synthesized by living anionic polymerization using 1,1-diphenylethylene (DPE)-functionalized P(St-Fl) with two or four benzyl bromide moieties, followed by linking reaction with a living anionic P2VP. Depending on the arm numbers of P2VP, lamellar and hexagonally perforated lamellae morphologies were observed for the AB22 and AB44P(St-Fl)-b-P2VP from the results of SAXS, WAXS, and TEM. The [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) incorporated in the polymer matrix increased the order degree of the liquid-crystal-like morphology in the P(St-Fl) block. The prepared AB22 and AB44P(St-Fl)-b-P2VP could be blended with PCBM for electrical write-once-read-many times (WORM) memory devices application. The threshold voltage (−2.8 to −3.9 V) and ON/OFF ratio (103 to 106) of the WORM characteristic were obtained by tuning the PCBM content. The ON or OFF state of the WORM memory devices could remain over 104 s without any degradation. The optical absorption and photoluminescence results indicated the formation of charge transfer complexation between PCBM and the 2-vinylpyridine or pendent fluorene chromophores. The switching behavior was further explained by the charge injection dominated thermionic emission in the OFF state and field-induced charge transfer in the ON state. These experimental results provide a new strategy to prepare a conjugated moiety containing asymmetric star polymers and their potential electrical memory device applications.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis and morphology of new asymmetric star polymers of poly[4-(9,9-dihexylfloren-2-yl)styrene]-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) and their non-volatile memory device applications

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C1SM05792H
Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 May 2011
Accepted
08 Jun 2011
First published
22 Jul 2011

Soft Matter, 2011,7, 8440-8449

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Synthesis and morphology of new asymmetric star polymers of poly[4-(9,9-dihexylfloren-2-yl)styrene]-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) and their non-volatile memory device applications

J. Hsu, C. Li, K. Sugiyama, R. Mezzenga, A. Hirao and W. Chen, Soft Matter, 2011, 7, 8440 DOI: 10.1039/C1SM05792H

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