Alignment and dynamic manipulation of conjugated polymer nanowires in nematic liquid crystal hosts

A study was conducted to demonstrate the alignment and dynamic manipulation of novel conjugated polymer nanowires in a nematic liquid crystal (LC). E7, a low-molecular-weight and room temperature nematic LC material, was employed as the host matrix in the study. The guest nanowires were composed of poly(9,9-dioctyfluorenyl-2,7-diyl) (PFO), a highly efficient blue-emitting, semiconducting polymer with better thermal and oxidative stability, which are synthesized using a template method. It was demonstrated that initial optical spectroscopic investigations yield well-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectra characteristics of PFO β-phase, in which polymer chain segments adopt a planarized and extended conformation. Nanowire PL emission was also found to be axially polarized and consistent with internal alignment of β-phase strands during synthesis.