Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/K70618/01
Title:	APPROACHES TO EFFICIENT BLUE LIGHT-EMITTING POLYMERS
Principal Investigator:	Bradley, Professor DD
Other Investigators:	Burn, Professor P
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Raychem Ltd
Department:	Physics and Astronomy
Organisation:	University of Sheffield
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 October 1995	Ends:	30 September 1998	Value (£):	33,763
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Processing
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
One of the significant advances in recent years for electronic materials for displays was the discovery that conjugated polymers such as poly(1,4-phenylenevinylene) could be used as the light-emitting layer in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Polymers have been developed which emit light across the whole of the visible spectrum though in common with inorganic semi-conductor devices there have been difficulties in obtaining high efficiency blue-light emitting devices with good stability. This proposal seeks to address this problem and describes the synthetic routes towards and characterisation of efficient blue light-emitting polymers and their incorporation in light-emitting diode structures. The family of polymers we have chosen to investigate are based on poly(1,4-phenylene(1-phenylvinylene)) which has a large optical gap between its highest-occupied and lowest-unoccupied molecular orbitals caused by the twisting of the conjugated polymer backbone due to the phenyl side group. The investigation centres on the attachment of electron withdrawing groups onto the polymer which is envisaged to enhance the electron affinity of the polymers, a major problem in these types of polymers. The proposal falls in three sections: first, the determination of the best substituents for the polymer; second, the synthesis of the polymers and also the synthesis of polymers which have electron transport chromophores directly attached; and finally, the characterisation of the physical and electronic properties of the polymers, and device fabrication and testing.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.shef.ac.uk