Crystalline-crystalline block copolymers of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) and polyethylene by ring-opening metathesis polymerization

Block copolymers of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and polyethylene (PE) were synthesized through the chain transfer of olefin-terminated P3HT in the presence of cyclooctene via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Subsequent hydrogenation of the poly(cyclooctene) block yielded high molecular weight, crystalline-crystalline P3HT-PE block copolymers, which are thermally stable and resistant to solvents under ambient conditions. These copolymers were characterized by 1H NMR, DSC, and WAXS and represent the first materials of a class of crystalline-crystalline semiconducting-insulating block copolymers