Inkjet printing of PPE-PPV copolymers for lighting applications

Poly(p-phenylene-ethynylene)-alt-poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) hybrid polymers (PPE-PPV) are a special class of materials of organic electronics. Due to the presence of triple bonds in the chemical polyvinylene system they yield both a high electron affinity and a high photoluminescence quantum yield. PPE-PPV copolymers are thus considered suitable candidates for both photovoltaic and optoelectronic (lighting) applications. This paper concentrates on an isomeric pair of PPE-PPV co-polymers (P8-18 and P18-8) which were put to a formulation inkjet-printable with a Dimatix DMP-2831 multi-nozzle desktop printer. For the isomeric pair, the photophysical properties and the quality of the printed layers were studied by confocal epifluorescence microscopy. The printing tests were followed by a feasibility study on manufacturing of partially printed OLEDs. The work was carried out in the framework of a propaedeutic interdisciplinary scientific project thesis (BeLL).