We have prepared poly(TEMPO methacrylate), PTMA, using three living polymerization methods – anionic, RAFT and ATRP. Each requires a particular oxidation states of TEMPO on the monmer during polymerization depending on mechanism. We show that carefully synthesized and purified PTMA is highly insulating; however, over-oxidation can lead to a cationic species that is responsible for weak conductivity. These findings are important for future applications of PTMA as flexible battery electrodes and as transparent conductors. We will compare with theory by evaluating the density and energy distribution of these cationic species to describe the measured data, and we are looking for an over-oxidation threshold that will indicate when a transition is made from insulating to weakly conducting. We also study electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of solid films PTMA films to measure the average radical-radical pair spacing, which is crucial to understanding and quantifying hopping conductivity in PTMA. We demonstrate an on-chip c.w. EPR technique that we use to examine solid-film PTMA EPR over a broad range of frequencies and magnetic fields.

Conductivity in poly(TEMPO methacrylate), PTMA made using 3-different living polymerization routes

254th National Meeting (2017)

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