9802180 Okamoto Aromatic conjugated rigid rod polymers play an important role in a number of diverse technologies including high performance engineering materials, conductive polymer, nonlinear optical and laser materials. Recently aromatic conjugated polymers and their blends have found applications in various photoelectronic techniques. Electroluminescence devices based on conjugated aromatic polymers have attracted increasing attention due to easy fabrication of large areas, wide choices of colors and thermal stability. However, the luminescence properties of these materials both in solution and in the solid state when blended with a second polymer have not been fully investigated. The objective of this research is to expand past work to include several new rigid aromatic polymers. (1) The novel phenomena of luminescence enhancement and alteration of emission wavelengths in blends of aromatic rigid polymers will be studied in depth and electroluminescence devices will be constructed for promising candidates. (2) An approach using non-covalently bonded graft copolymers as compatibilizers will be adopted to design novel elastomer-reinforced rigid polymers. (3) The relaxation properties of the rigid polymers will be measured in water and organic solvents and compared with biological systems. %%% Display technology finds itself in many applications from laptop screens to aerospace electronic devices. The development of organic materials for use in display technology is an area in which the United States is in keen competition with Japan and Europe. The proposed work has the potential of offering new candidates for light emitting devices. Concurrent with device applications, the novel approach to construct molecular composites may lead to strong but light-weight plastics for high technology uses. Graduate students trained in these areas will be sought-after employees for industries. ***
