Scientific Reports (Oct 2021)

Revealing the influence of steric bulk on the triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion performance of conjugated polymers

  • Riley O’shea,
  • William J. Kendrick,
  • Can Gao,
  • Tze Cin Owyong,
  • Jonathan M. White,
  • Kenneth P. Ghiggino,
  • Wallace W. H. Wong

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99179-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract A series of poly(phenylene-vinylene)-based copolymers are synthesized using the Gilch method incorporating monomers with sterically bulky sidechains. The photochemical upconversion performance of these polymers as emitters are investigated using a palladium tetraphenyltetrabenzoporphyrin triplet sensitizer and MEH-PPV as reference. Increased incorporation of sterically bulky monomers leads to a reduction in the upconversion efficiency despite improved photoluminescence quantum yield. A phosphorescence quenching study indicates issues with the energy transfer process between the triplet sensitizer and the copolymers. The best performance with 0.18% upconversion quantum yield is obtained for the copolymer containing 10% monomer with bulky sidechains.