The objective of this project is to utilize the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film balance technique to process electroactive polymers into thin film forms with well defined molecular structures and novel electrical and optical properties. In order to accomplish this, surface active monomers containing polymerizable pyrrole head groups will be manipulated into mono- and multi-layer thin films using the LB technique and subsequently converted into electrically conductive multi-layer assemblies. In addition, solvent-soluble, electrically- conductive polypyrroles and polythiophenes that satisfy the structural requirements for LB manipulation will be synthesized and fabricated into mono- and multi-layer thin films. The inability to fabricate large area thin films of electroactive polymers with controllable thickness has been one of the major stumbling blocks to the successful utilization of these materials. Using the techniques developed in this project, it will be possible for the first time to prepare structurally well-defined thin polymer films in which an electrically conductive polymer chain is separated by insulating regions of known dimensions and orientation. The electrical and optical properties of these films will be evaluated in order to determine the influence of molecular superstructure on the transport behavior of these highly anisotropic organizations.
