%0 Artikel %@ 0032-3861 %A Knaapila, M. %A Almasy, L. %A Haramus, V.M. %A Ramos, M.L. %A Justino, L.L.G. %A Scherf, U. %A Burrows, H.D. %A Monkman, A.P. %D 2008 %J Polymer %N 1377 %P 2033 - 2038 %R doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2008.02.046 %T An effect of side chain length on the solution structure of poly(9,9-dialkylfluorene)s in toluene %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2008.02.046 8 %X The effect of side chain length of π-conjugated poly(9,9-dialkylfluorene)s has been studied in semi-dilute (10 mg/mL) toluene solutions using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and 1H and 2H NMR spectroscopies. Under these conditions, SANS data indicate that poly(9,9-dinonylfluorene) and poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) are dissolved down to the molecule level and appear as elongated one-dimensional chains (length >20–30 nm). In contrast, the shorter side chain polymers exhibit a self-association so that poly(9,9-diheptylfluorene) forms thin sheet-like (not, vert, similar1 nm) and poly(9,9-dihexylfluorene) thin (not, vert, similar1 nm) and thick sheet-like (>6 nm) aggregates. 1H NMR data, together with the density functional theory (DFT) calculations, however, show that this occurs without changes in the conformation of the polymer backbone.