Self-Organized Liquid Phase and Co-Crystallization of Rod-Like Polymers Hydrogen-Bonded to Amphiphilic Molecules

The application of self-organization to rod-like polymers to form ordered nanoscale structures is not straightforward because such polymers are often infusible and poorly soluble. A concept is introduced—involving the stoichiometric protonation of a π-conjugated electroactive rod-like polymer by a sulfonic acid to give a polymeric salt, which in turn is complexed with an alkylphenol to produce a self-organized nanoscale structure—that has many implications for new processing routes and controlled nanoscale structures of rigid rod-like polymers, in particular electroactive polymers.