Analyzing the synthesis of semiconducting PPV polymers in microreactors

A special class of semiconducting polymers for electrical devices, called, poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) was synthesized in microreactors and analyzed. The analysis of the synthesis process revealed that the Gilch method is the most effective process of synthesizing PPVs. It was found the Gilch polymerization process is necessary for obtaining better quality PPVs for organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) applications. The original Gilch polymerization was converted into a continuous microreaction process, to achieve an improved process performance. The microreators have significant reduced the processing time of semiconducting polymers, due to intensified mass and heat transport characteristics, attainable in these reactors, along with a precisely adjustable residence time.