New conjugated copolymer MEH-PPV-P3HT with donor-acceptor system for organic optoelectronics applications: Experimental and theoretical study

Abstract

Donor-acceptor architecture was designed of new diblocks copolymer MEH-PPV-P3HT synthesis. The new copolymer was elaborated through oxidative pathway. The correlation structure-properties and their potential photophysical characteristics of the obtained material were reported utilizing several characterization analyses (InfraRed, Raman, TGA, UV visible spectroscopy, as well as PL and TRPL). To define the model's geometric structure, vibrational, and optoelectronic properties of the studied copolymer, Density Functional Theory DFT and Time-dependent Density Functional Theory TD-DFT approach were carried out. The obtained copolymer exhibits great thermal stability and substantial absorption in the visible range. An energy gap lower than the original materials by the amount of 1.74 eV which proves the presence of the charge transfer process. In addition, due to Forster energy transfer from the MEH-PPV to the P3HT an enhancement of the exciton average lifetime was detected. The obtained results from the copolymer characterization suggest a potential for application in organic optoelectronic devices. A good accordance between experimental and theoretical results based DFT calculations is obtained.