Synthesis and properties of ferrocene-functionalised polythiophene derivatives

The ferrocene-functionalised thiophene derivatives (TFn) with different length of oxyethylene chains were synthesized and polymerized chemically with iron (III) chloride as an oxidant. The resulting ferrocene-functionalised polythiophenes (PTFn) show good solubility in most solvents, such as chloroform (CHCl3), tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetone, etc. The structure and properties of the PTFn polymers were confirmed by IR, 1H NMR, AFM and photoluminescence (PL). The polymers PTFn show good redox activity with no attenuation of the electroactivity after multiple potential cycling.