Tuning of electronic properties and rigidity in PEDOT analogs

The electronic properties, rigidity, and planarity of conjugated polymers of the PEDOT type were tuned by changing the conjugated backbone from polythiophene to the more rigid polyselenophene and by replacing one or both oxygen atoms in the ethylenedioxy bridge (peripheral ring) with sulfur. While the band gaps of the obtained polyselenophenes are ∼1.4 eV, the orbital energy levels shift significantly because of changes in the electronic nature of the peripheral ring and the peak-width of the absorbance spectrum varies because of changes to backbone rigidity.