A new polymer containing confined phenylenevinylene segments: synthesis and photoluminescence

Poly[bis(4,6-di-tert-butyl-1,2-phenylene-1,2-ethenylene)-1,4-phenylene-4,4′-ethylenebis(11-oxyundecanylphenyl urethane)] (PV-PU) consisting of alternating a confined phenylenevinylene segment and a nonconjugated urethane segment in the main chain was synthesized. Photoluminescence (PL) of PV-PU is emitted in the blue region with a maximum intensity at about 440 nm. PV-PU blended with 2-(4-biphenylyl)-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD)–polystyrene (1:2, wt/wt) in weight ratio of 1:10 and 1:15 also show PL spectra similar to that of pure PV-PU but with enhanced intensity, suggesting that the photo-excited PBD donor transfers its energy to PV-PU in the ground state and subsequently the excited PV-PU acceptor emits the blue light.