PHOTOPHYSICAL AND PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL BEHAVIOR OF POLY[STYRENE-CO-3-(ACRYLAMIDO)-6-AMINOACRIDINE]

Photochemically and photoelectrochemically active copolymer poly[styre ne-co-3-(acrylamido)-6-aminoacridine] (PS-AA) has been synthesized. Th e absorption properties of this copolymer (PS-AA) are dependent on the acidity of the medium as it can exist in neutral and singly and doubl y protonated forms in solution. The excited singlet and triplet state properties of PS-AA are very similar at different acidities, indicatin g thereby the singly protonated species is the only dominant Species t hat is responsible for excited-state emission. The fluorescence and tr iplet quantum yields are 0.16 +/- 0.03 and 0.22 +/- 0.06, respectively . The feasibility of employing these polymer films as photosensitive e lectrode materials has been demonstrated. A photon-to-photocurrent con version efficiency (IPCE) of <1% has been observed with a PS-AA-coated nanocrystalline SnO2 film.