Morphologies and optical properties of poly(2-methoxy-5-ethoxy-p-phenylene) nanofibril arrays

Abstract

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane can be used as template for the synthesis of nanostructures. In this paper, we have fabricated poly(2-methoxy-5-ethoxy-p-phenylene) (MEO-PPP) nanofibril arrays by oxidative coupling polymerization of 1-methoxy-4-ethoxybenzene (MEB) within the pores of AAO template. The detailed molecular structure of the polymer nanofibrils, the morphologies and images of the AAO template and the fabricated nanometer scale of poly (2-methoxy-5-ethoxy-p-phenylene) nanofibril arrays were characterized. The experimental results demonstrate that the pores of the AAO membrane are regular and uniform, and parallel to each other. Furthermore, the MEO-PPP chains in the narrowest template-synthesized fibrils are oriented in parallel to pore axes of AAO membrane, and perpendicularly to the surface of aluminum substrate. The polymer chain orientation is partially responsible for the enhanced conductivity. Ultraviolet absorption maximum shows that the polymer contains a better extended π-conjugation system along poly(p-phenylene) backbone, which results in longer wavelength shift of the absorption band. Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of nanofibril arrays exhibits that there is 5 nm blue shift of emission in comparison with the unordered molecules. Show more