A novel poly(p-phenylene vinylene)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) rod–coil diblock copolymer

In this letter, a novel well-defined PPV-b-PMMA rod–coil diblock copolymer, consisting of PPV oligomer as its rod block and PMMA as its coil block, respectively, was prepared via ATRP for the first time. The structure of the copolymer was determined by the measurements of FTIR, 1H NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The thermal and optical properties of the copolymers are investigated by DSC, TGA, UV–Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The results showed that, the introduction of PMMA coil block can improve both the thermal stability and optical properties of PPV oligomer. The highly ordered hexagonally honeycomb-structured film of the copolymer fabricated by vaporizing solvent is also investigated by optical microscope and SEM.