The synthesis of thiophene based conducting polymer molecular actuators, exhibiting electrically triggered molecular conformational transitions is reported. Actuation is believed to be the result of conformational rearrangement of the polymer backbone at the molecular level, not simply ion intercalation in the bulk polymer chain upon electrochemical activation. Molecular actuation results from &pgr;-&pgr; stacking of thiophene oligomers upon oxidation, producing a reversible molecular displacement that leads to surprising material properties, such as electrically controllable porosity and large strains. The existence of active molecular conformational changes is supported by in situ electrochemical data. Single molecule techniques have been used to characterize the molecular actuators.
报道了基于
噻吩的导电高分子分子致动器的合成,表现出电致分子构象转变。致动被认为是分子
水平上高分子主链的构象重排结果,而不仅仅是电
化学激活时在大量高分子链中的离子插入。分子致动是由于氧化时
噻吩寡聚物的π-π堆积产生可逆的分子位移,导致出现令人惊讶的材料性质,如电控孔隙度和大应变。原位电
化学数据支持活性分子构象变化的存在。单分子技术已用于表征分子致动器。