Electron deficient conjugated polymers based on benzotriazole

A series of solution processable conjugated polymers containing the benzotriazole unit have been synthesized and studied. The benzotriazole unit can be considered a moderately electron deficient building block that can readily incorporate a convenient alkyl substituent for solution processability. By varying the electron accepting strength of co-monomer partners, a series of polymers with different photophysical properties were obtained. Some polymers exhibit relatively high fluorescence quantum yields while others were able to quench the fluorescence of electron donor polymers in blends consistent with their ability to act as electron acceptors. The performance of these polymers as the active material in organic light emitting diode (OLED) and organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices is reported.