Side chain functional carbazole-fluorene electroactive polymers: Optical, electrochemical properties, antimicrobial activity and thin film morphologies

Abstract

A new electroactive polymer based on fluorene and carbazole moieties with double bond side chain (MP25) was synthesized and then double bond at the side chain was functionalized with -COOH and -Si(OEt)3 as ITO/glass compatible groups. Electrochemical and optical properties of the polymers were elucidated with cyclic voltammetry (CV), ultraviolet–visible absorption (UV–Vis), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. It was observed that all polymers absorbed only the UV region and emitted blue light. By using CV, HOMO values were found as approximately 5.45 eV. According to AFM results, when the rough MP25 polymer thin film was modified with ITO/glass compatible groups, more uniform and smoother polymer thin films were obtained. Thermogravimetry analyses (TGA) shown that the MP25-Si and MP25-COOH were stable against thermo-oxidative decomposition. The weight loss of MP-25-Si was found to be only %23 at 700°C. Additionally, antimicrobial activity of MP25 polymers was also investigated. According to test results, all polymers were found to have antimicrobial activity against C.albicans.