W. Chunwachirasiri et al., X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis absorption studies of poly(di-n-hexylsilane) and poly(di-n-octylsilane) after quenching, SYNTH METAL, 119(1-3), 2001, pp. 31-34
Poly(di-n-hexylsilane) (PdHexSi) and poly(di-n-octylsilane) (PdOctSi) polym
ers have been studied using X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis absorption on warm
ing after thermal quenching. These sigma -conjugated conducting polymers ex
hibited qualitative similarities in their overall behavior. Quenching led t
o low temperature, ordered structures which retained the hexagonal intercha
in packing of the high temperature mesophase. This rapid cooling also suppr
essed the development of three-dimensional interchain ordering. In most oth
er respects the behavior of PdHexSi was similar to that of slowly cooled sa
mples. PdOctSi exhibited pronounced variations in both the X-ray diffractio
n and the UV absorption in comparison to its slowly cooled counterpart. The
se changes were found to be somewhat sample dependent. The diversity in PdO
ctSi behavior appears to stem from systematic changes in the side chain pac
king on passing from the n-hexyl to the n-octyl moiety.