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Watching two conjugated polymer chains breaking each other when colliding in solution

Tian, Yuxi LU ; Kuzimenkova, Marina LU ; Xie, Mingyi LU ; Meyer, Matthias LU ; Larsson, Per-Olof LU and Scheblykin, Ivan LU orcid (2014) In NPG Asia Materials 6. p.134-134
Abstract
While collision theory successfully describes the kinetics of chemical reactions, very little is known about the processes at the molecular level, especially if the reacting molecules are large. In this study, using single-molecule spectroscopy, we visually observed that collision between two conjugated polymer (CP) molecules in solution leads to simultaneous rupture of both chains. In addition to opening up the possibility of monitoring chemical processes in solution at the single-molecule level, these results demonstrate that mechanical bending of two stiff conjugated backbones against each other (the effect of leverage) by Brownian motion can weaken the chemical bond and markedly accelerate photochemical oxygen-induced chain scission by... (More)
While collision theory successfully describes the kinetics of chemical reactions, very little is known about the processes at the molecular level, especially if the reacting molecules are large. In this study, using single-molecule spectroscopy, we visually observed that collision between two conjugated polymer (CP) molecules in solution leads to simultaneous rupture of both chains. In addition to opening up the possibility of monitoring chemical processes in solution at the single-molecule level, these results demonstrate that mechanical bending of two stiff conjugated backbones against each other (the effect of leverage) by Brownian motion can weaken the chemical bond and markedly accelerate photochemical oxygen-induced chain scission by at least 20 times. The catalytic effect of the chain bending is also enhanced by a prolonged interaction between the chains owing to their entanglement. These findings are important for the solution processing of CPs in their application in organic electronics, for understanding the degradation mechanisms in CPs and for the development of new catalysts based on mechanical interactions with target molecules. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
NPG Asia Materials
volume
6
pages
134 - 134
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • wos:000344735900002
  • scopus:84925244179
ISSN
1884-4049
DOI
10.1038/am.2014.91
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Pure and Applied Biochemistry (LTH) (011001005), Chemical Physics (S) (011001060)
id
53ab3c06-cfe4-4722-adf3-ed6bbdb886a6 (old id 4871336)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:08:55
date last changed
2023-10-26 01:57:34
@article{53ab3c06-cfe4-4722-adf3-ed6bbdb886a6,
  abstract     = {{While collision theory successfully describes the kinetics of chemical reactions, very little is known about the processes at the molecular level, especially if the reacting molecules are large. In this study, using single-molecule spectroscopy, we visually observed that collision between two conjugated polymer (CP) molecules in solution leads to simultaneous rupture of both chains. In addition to opening up the possibility of monitoring chemical processes in solution at the single-molecule level, these results demonstrate that mechanical bending of two stiff conjugated backbones against each other (the effect of leverage) by Brownian motion can weaken the chemical bond and markedly accelerate photochemical oxygen-induced chain scission by at least 20 times. The catalytic effect of the chain bending is also enhanced by a prolonged interaction between the chains owing to their entanglement. These findings are important for the solution processing of CPs in their application in organic electronics, for understanding the degradation mechanisms in CPs and for the development of new catalysts based on mechanical interactions with target molecules.}},
  author       = {{Tian, Yuxi and Kuzimenkova, Marina and Xie, Mingyi and Meyer, Matthias and Larsson, Per-Olof and Scheblykin, Ivan}},
  issn         = {{1884-4049}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{134--134}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{NPG Asia Materials}},
  title        = {{Watching two conjugated polymer chains breaking each other when colliding in solution}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/am.2014.91}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/am.2014.91}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}