Development of Aqueous Compatible Organic Semiconducting Polymers

Semiconducting polymers have been utilized in various applications such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) in device screens and organic sensors. Previously, semiconducting organic polymers were developed to be compatible with organic solvents and electrolytes. Our investigation focused on synthesizing aqueous compatible organic semiconducting polymers which can be used in biomedical devices such as sensors and probes. Monomers with polar side chains were synthesized and incorporated into polymers with alternating repeating units through direct (hetero)arylation polymerization. These successful incorporations enabled polymers to have greater compatibility with aqueous biological environments such as blood, IV fluids, etc. Polymer compatibility in aqueous electrolytes was elucidated via UV-Visible spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. This development in aqueous compatible conjugated polymers bridges the gap between synthetic polymer chemistry and medicinal applications