The synthesis and enhancement of the surface properties of polyfluorene-based photoelectric materials by introducing fluoromonomers

A series of fluorene-based rod–coil block copolymers with different lengths of fluorine-containing coil segments (poly[2,7-(9,9-dihexylfluorene)]-block-poly (2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutyl methacrylate), PF-b-PHFBMA) were well designed and successfully synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The thermal behavior, optical properties and surface properties of these rod–coil block copolymers were investigated. The thermal properties of the copolymers presented a good thermal stability, while the optical properties did not show a noticeable dependence on the lengths of the coil segments. In addition, they showed a high dependence on the self-assembly behavior in selective solvents. The surface properties were obviously influenced by the structure of the micelles formed in different selective solvents (i.e. THF, CHCl3 and C2F3Cl3). The incorporation of the fluorine-containing coil segments in the polyfluorene-based polymers yielded a low energy surface and various interesting surface morphologies, which gives the polymers many potential applications.