Electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical characterisation of poly(3′-hydroxymethyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthiophene)

The electrochemical polymerisation of 3′-hydroxymethyl-2,2′:5′,2″-terthiophene, afforded a new conducting polymer bearing the nucleophilic –CH2OH substituent in β-position. The characteristics of the system obtained have been defined through electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical techniques, as a function of the nature of the solvent in which polymerisation has been carried out and in which polymer doping is electrochemically induced. Two different morphological and/or structural fractions are obtained when the polymer is electrogenerated in CH3CN solvent, while a more homogeneous deposit, consisting of molecules with shorter conjugation system, forms in CH2Cl2. Marked differences are also evidenced when the polymer is p-doped in the two different solvents.