Tuning the Performance of Conjugated Polymers by Post-polymerisation Modification.

Controlling the band gap, molecular packing and absolute energy levels of conjugated polymers and oligomers is fundamentally important for their utilisation in a number of applications. Most approaches utilize the co-polymerisation of various co-monomer materials for this goal. However establishing structure-property relationships by varying co-monomer ratio can be challenging, as it is difficult to disentangle the influence of changes in the backbone chemistry from variations in the molecular weight, end-groups and polydispersity. Here I will discuss alternate approaches based on the functionalisation of pre-formed conjugated polymers, enabling the synthesis of libraries with consistent dispersity and length. I will highlight how such approaches can be utilised to carefully tune hydrophilicity, control electron affinity, balance ion penetration versus swelling behaviour or introduce stimuli responsive behaviour.