Synthesis and study of morphological, optical and electrical properties of new organic semi conducting polymers containing isosorbide pendant group

•Synthesis of new organic semi conducting polymers containing isosorbide pendant polar and chiral group.•Semi-conducting polymers.•Chromophore effect on optical and electrical properties.•Improved of PL quantum yield.

Tow isosorbide containing poly(phenylene vinylene-arylene vinylene)s have been synthesized via Wittig polycondensation: PPVIs-Carb (arylene: carbazole) and PPVIs-Naph (arylene: naphtalene). The macromolecular structures were characterized by NMR and FTIR spectroscopies. The polymers are soluble in common organic solvents and show good film-forming abilities thanks to the presence of the polar isosorbide side groups. These organic materials showed an amorphous behavior. A higher polarity of the surface was obtained for PPVIs-Naph. The both polymer films are photoluminescent and exhibit an optical gap of 2.3 eV. The carbazole-based polymer emits in yellow-green while a green-yellow emission was obtained in the naphtalene conatainig polymer with higher fluorescence quantum efficiency. The HOMO/LUMO energy levels were determined by cyclic voltammetry and showed higher ionization potential and electronic affinity for PPVIs-Carb. The study of the ITO/polymer thin film/Al devices showed a space-charge limited current transport mechanism with charge carrier mobility in order of 10−8 cm2 V−1 s−1.

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