Tuning photophysical properties in conjugated microporous polymers by comonomer doping strategies

The photophysical properties of conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are tuned using an acceptor doping strategy. This allows the fluorescence of a native polyphenylene network to be controlled by introducing low loadings (0.1-5 mol %) of an acceptor comonomer, such as benzothiadiazole (BT), bisthiophenebenzothiadiazole (TBT) and perylenediimide (PDI). Fluorescence quantum yields are around 10 times higher than analogous nonporous polymers because of avoidance of chain aggregation in the porous network. White emitting CMPs with high quantum yields are prepared using this approach. Different domain structures can be prepared by changing the addition sequence of the monomers, and this has a strong effect on the fluorescent properties. These doped porous polymers can also be used as fluorescence sensors for volatile organic compounds (VOCs).