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Synthesis, characterization, and nonlinear optical properties of donor–acceptor conjugated polymers and polymer/Ag nanocomposites

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Abstract

Two new donor–acceptor (D–A) conjugated polymers P1 and P2 containing 3,4-didodecyloxythiophene and 1,3,4-oxadiazole units are synthesized via Wittig reaction methodology. Cyclic voltammetry studies reveal that the polymers are both p and n dopable, and possess low-lying LUMO energy levels (−3.34 eV for P1 and −3.46 eV for P2) and high-lying HOMO energy levels (−5.34 eV for P1 and −5.27 eV for P2). The optical band gap of the polymers is in the range of 2.25–2.29 eV, calculated from the onset absorption edge. The polymers emit orange to yellow light in the film state when irradiated with a UV light. The synthesized polymers are used to prepare polymer nanocomposites with different wt% of silver nanoparticles. The polymer nanocomposites are characterized by UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Both polymers and polymer/Ag nanocomposites show good thermal stability with onset decomposition temperature around 300 °C under nitrogen atmosphere. The nonlinear optical properties of polymers and polymer/Ag nanocomposites are measured by Z-scan technique. Both polymers and polymer nanocomposites show a good optical limiting behavior. Nearly five times enhancement in the nonlinear optical properties is observed for polymer/Ag nanocomposites. The value of effective two-photon absorption coefficient (β) is in the order of 10−10–10−11 m/W. These results indicate that the synthesized polymers (P1 and P2) and their Ag nanocomposites are expected to be good candidates for application in photonic devices.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank Prof. Reji Philip, Raman Research Institute, India for providing facility for Z-scan measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore, 575 025, India

    M. G. Murali & Udayakumar Dalimba

  2. Light and Matter Physics Group, Raman Research Institute, C.V. Raman Avenue, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore, 560 080, India

    Kishore Sridharan

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  1. M. G. Murali
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  2. Udayakumar Dalimba
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  3. Kishore Sridharan
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Correspondence to Udayakumar Dalimba.

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Murali, M.G., Dalimba, U. & Sridharan, K. Synthesis, characterization, and nonlinear optical properties of donor–acceptor conjugated polymers and polymer/Ag nanocomposites. J Mater Sci 47, 8022–8034 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-012-6692-8

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