Synthesis and characterization of a new poly(aryl ether ketone) containing zinc phthalocyanine

A novel poly(aryl ether ketone) (PAEK) copolymer with metallophthalocyanine units was synthesized by the reaction of PAEK containing dicyanophenyl with excess amounts of 1,2-dicyanobenzene and zinc chloride in quinoline. This copolymer exhibits high glass transition temperatures and excellent thermal stability. This copolymer shows strong optical absorption in the visible region, and exhibits strong blue photoluminescence. Furthermore, this polymer can form differently aggregated structures in chloroform with the addition of 4,4′-bipyridine (Bipy). In particular, when polymer was mixed with 4 equiv. of Bipy, a uniform cotton like superstructure was observed. These results indicated that the axial coordination of zinc phthalocyanine and Bipy plays an important role in controlling the polymer morphologies obtained by the addition of Bipy to solutions of the polymer in CHCl3.