Electronic properties and photo-/thermo-tunable conductance of an anthracene-based conjugated polymer

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the electronic properties of a linear conjugated polymer with an anthracene backbone. A voltage scan to an ITO/polyanthracene/ITO sandwich device was performed to determine its I-V characteristics. The polymer was also tested for its light and heat-controlled conductance, wherein it was determined that UV light (λ = 397 nm) decreases its conductance while heating reverses this effect. This is due to the disruption and restoration of the π system during photo-induced dimerization and heat-induced scission, respectively. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetry was performed to the polymer in solution form to determine its charge transport mechanism.