Uniaxially ordered conjugated polymer film prepared by electrochemical polymerization in a nematic liquid crystal with rubbing orientation method showing redox-driven tunable dichroism

Abstract

We demonstrate electrochemical polymerization of an aromatic conjugated monomer in a macroscopically aligned nematic liquid crystal. This method is a combination of employment of liquid crystal as the electrolyte solution, a rubbing technique, and electropolymerization. The resulting polymer film shows linear dichroism and anisotropy. Polarizing optical microscopy reveals that the polymer film is uniformly ordered on a macroscopic scale. These results indicate that the conjugated main chains grow along a director of the aligned nematic liquid crystal solvent.