| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/L09974/01 |
| Title: |
WATER-SOLUBLE CONJUGATED POLY-ROTAXANES: INSULATED MOLECULAR WIRES |
| Principal Investigator: |
Anderson, Professor HL |
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| Department: |
Oxford Chemistry |
| Organisation: |
University of Oxford |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
09 October 1996 |
Ends: |
08 January 2000 |
Value (£): |
135,218
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Materials Synthesis & Growth |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Conjugated polymers have many applications as organic semiconductors and as non-linear optical dyes, for telecommunications and display devices. We propose to improve the stability and processability of these polymers by insulating them in sheaths of cylindrical and macrocyclic rings, to give poly-rotaxanes. Poly-rotaxanes have previously been synthesised, but this work represents the first use of rotaxane formation to control the electronic properties of a conjugated system. We propose a new general route to poly-rotaxanes: bind a monomer in a macrocycle, polymerise this non-covalent unit to form a sheathed conjugated polymer, then cap the ends to prevent unthreading. Binding will be achieved using the hydrophobic effect: a non-polar monomer will be bound inside a water-soluble macrocycle and polymerised in aqueous solution. The beauty of this strategy is that the hydrophobic effect is very general, so we do not need to build specific binding sites into our monomers. This approach capitalise on three facts: a) most of the monomers used for conjugated polymer synthesis are hydrophobic, b) many water-soluble macrocycles (such as cyclophanes and cyclodextrins) are available which bind these monomers and c) many of the polymerisation reactions used to synthesise conjugated polymers can be carried out in water.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.ox.ac.uk |