ELECTROCHEMICAL PREPARATION OF POLYTHIOPHENE VIA 2,5-BIS(TRIMETHYLSILYL)THIOPHENE

Electrochemical polymerization of 2,5-bis (trimethylsilyl) thiophene produced highly conducting films which showed infrared spectra, visible-near infrared absorption spectra, and cyclic voltammograms identical to films prepared from thiophene. Elemental analysis indicated that almost all silicon atoms were eliminated during the electrochemical polymerization. However, scanning electron microscopy showed a morphological difference between the films from 2,5-bis(trimethylsilyl)thiophene and from thiophene. The electrochemical polymerization of bis(2-thienyl)dimethylsilane, 1,2-bis(2-thienyl)tetramethyldisilane, and bis(2-thienyl)diphenylsilane also produced polythiophene films having unique morphologies quite different from the conventional ones. These findings indicate that these electrochemical procedures must be useful for preparation of new conjugated polymers.