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Ben Zhong Tang

Publications and source records attributed to Ben Zhong Tang.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Functional disubstituted polyacetylenes: Synthesis, liquid crystallinity, light emission, and fluorescent photopatterning of biphenyl-containing poly(1-phenyl-octyne)s with different functional bridges.

Biphenyl (Biph)-containing 1-phenyl-1-octynes and their polymers are synthesized, and the effects of functional bridge groups on the mesomorphic and optical properties of the polymers are studied. The nonmesomorphic disubstituted acetylene monomers (C6H13)C[triple bond]C(C6H4)O(CH2)12O-Biph-OC7H15 (1), (C6H13)C[triple bond]C(C6H4)O(CH2)11OOC-Biph-OC7H15 (2), and (C6H13)C[triple bond]C(C6H4)CO2(CH2)12OOC-Biph-OC7H15 (3) are prepared by multistep reaction routes and converted into their corresponding polymers P1-P3 by a WCl6-Ph4Sn catalyst. The structures and properties of the polymers are characterized and evaluated by NMR, TGA, DSC, POM, XRD, UV, and PL analyses. The mesogenic pendants have endowed the polymers with high thermal stability (> or =400 degrees C). While P1 exhibits no liquid crystallinity, P2 and P3 form enantiotropic S(A) phase with a monolayer structure. Upon photoexcitation, the polymers emit blue and blue-green lights of 460 and 480 nm, respectively, in THF with quantum efficiencies larger than 30%. UV irradiation of a thin film of P2 through a mask oxidizes and quenches the light emission of the exposed regions, generating a two-dimensional luminescent photoimage.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Functional perovskite hybrid of polyacetylene ammonium and lead bromide: Synthesis, light emission, and fluorescence imagining.

A highly photoresponsive perovskite hybrid containing an electroactive organic component (H1) was fabricated. A disubstituted polyacetylene (PA) with a hidden amino functionality (P3) was synthesized, hydrolysis and quaternization of which afforded the desired PA ammonium salt (P5). Mixing P5 with lead bromide readily yielded H1, which was stable, soluble, and film-forming. The inorganic framework induced the polymer chains to align in an ordered fashion, which helped to populate the chain segments with long conjugation lengths. The hybrid emitted a blue light (457 nm) in a high quantum yield (62%), thanks to the enhanced electronic conjugation, the weakened interaction between the layer-segregated chains, and the efficient energy transfer from the inorganic sheets to the organic layers. P3 exhibited a half-discharge time as short as approximately 0.7 s, representing the first example of an efficient photoconductive disubstituted PA. While stable to normal light illumination, H1 was rapidly bleached upon exposure to high-power UV irradiation, enabling facile generation of two-dimensional luminescent photopatterns. After the UV irradiation, the emissions of P9 and P9/H12 were enhanced and weakened, respectively, proving that the inorganic perovskite framework works as a photocatalyst for accelerating the bleaching process of the conjugated PA chains.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Synthesis, helicity, and chromism of optically active poly(phenylacetylene)s carrying different amino acid moieties and pendant terminal groups.

Functional phenylacetylene derivatives containing l-alanine and l-leucine moieties with chiral menthyl and achiral n-octyl terminal groups {HC[triple bond]C-C6H4-p-CONHCH(R)CO2R': R = CH3, R'= (-)-(1R,2S,5R)-menthyl [1(-)]; R = CH2CH(CH2)3, R' = (-)-(1R,2S,5R)-menthyl [2(-)]; R'= CH2CH(CH2)3, R' = (+)-(1S,2R,5S)-menthyl [2(+)]; R'= CH2CH(CH2)3, R' = (CH2)7CH3 (2o)} are synthesized. Polymerizations of the acetylene monomers are effected by organorhodium catalysts, giving corresponding polymers P1(-), P2(-), P2(+), and P2o of high molecular weights (Mw up to 1.2 x 10(6)) in high yields (up to 89%). The polymers are thermally stable (Td >or= 300 degrees C) and soluble in common organic solvents. The polymer structures are characterized by IR, NMR, UV, and CD spectroscopies. Intense CD signals are observed in the visible spectral region, indicating that the polymer chains are taking a helical conformation with an excess of preferred handedness. The backbone conjugation and chain helicity of the polymers can be tuned by changing their molecular structures [(a)chiral pendant groups] and by applying external stimuli (solvent and pH). Addition of trifluoroacetic acid to the polymer solutions decreases their molar ellipticities and enhances their backbone conjugations, inducing a halochromism with a continuous and reversible color change (yellow <==> red).

Acetylene↗
PubMed2006

Synthesis of, light emission from, and optical power limiting in soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized by disubstituted polyacetylenes.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes are covalently functionalized by conjugated polyacetylenes through their cyclization reactions with poly(1-phenyl-1-alkyne) and poly(diphenylacetylene) derivatives carrying azido functional groups at the ends of their alkyl pendants. The resultant polyene nanotube addends are soluble in common solvents, emit intense visible lights and strongly attenuate the power of harsh laser pulses.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Photoluminescence spectral reliance on aggregation order of 1,1-Bis(2'-thienyl)-2,3,4,5-tetraphenylsilole.

1,1-Bis(2'-thienyl)-2,3,4,5-tetraphenylsilole (1) was prepared and characterized crystallographically. Silole 1 exhibited aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior like other 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylsiloles. Unexpectedly, aggregates formed in water/acetone (6:4 by volume) mixture emitted a blue light that peaked at 474 nm, while aggregates formed in the mixtures with higher water fractions emitted green light that peaked at 500 nm. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that the aggregates formed in the mixture with water fraction of 60% were single crystals, while aggregates that formed in the mixture with water fraction of 90% were irregular and poorly ordered particles. The unusual PL spectral reliance on aggregation order was further confirmed by PL emissions of macroscopic crystal powders and amorphous powders of the silole in the dry state. PL spectral blue shifting was observed upon aging of the poorly ordered aggregates formed in mixtures with water fractions of 70-90%, and they finally exhibited the same blue emission as the crystalline aggregates. The as-deposited thin solid film was amorphous and it could be transformed to a transparent crystalline film upon treatment in the vapor of an ethanol/water (1:1 by volume) mixture, along with PL spectral blue shifting due to changing of aggregation order. It was also found that the crystalline film showed a blue-shifted absorption spectrum relative to the amorphous film and the shift of the absorption edge of the spectra could match that of corresponding PL spectra. The FT-IR spectrum of crystal powders of 1 displayed more vibration modes compared with that of amorphous powders, suggesting the existence of different pi-overlaps or different molecular conformations. The crystals of 1-methyl-1,2,3,4,5-pentaphenylsilole and hexaphenylsilole also showed blue-shifted PL emissions of their amorphous solids, with a comparable PL spectral shift of 1. Developing of a silole solution on a TLC plate readily brought about an amorphous thin layer. Our results suggest that crystalline films of AIE-active siloles are potential emissive layers for efficient blue OLEDs with stable color and long lifetime.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Frustrated molecular packing in highly ordered smectic phase of side-chain liquid crystalline polymer with rigid polyacetylene backbone.

Using poly(5-{[(4'-heptoxy-4-biphenylyl)carbonyl]oxy}-1-pentyne) as an example, we demonstrate the incorporative accommodation of the rigid polyacetylene backbones and the mesogenic pendants, which leads to a highly ordered smectic (Sm) phase with a frustrated structure. The polymer exhibits a recognizable sheetlike molecular shape due to its rigid backbone and relatively short spacer (three methylene units), and the building block of the liquid crystalline (LC) phase is the whole molecule. In the LC phase, five layers of the molecules stack as a smectic A (SmA) block, and adjacent SmA blocks glide halfway of the molecular width from one to another. In scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments, the STM tip scrape is found to generate a regular nanopattern with periodic electron conductivity, of which the spacing is determined by the side-chain length.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Structural control of the photoluminescence of silole regioisomers and their utility as sensitive regiodiscriminating chemosensors and efficient electroluminescent materials.

We synthesized a group of silole regioisomers 1(x,y), whose photoluminescence varied dramatically with its regiostructure. By internally hindering the intramolecular rotation, we succeeded in creating a novel silole (1(3,4)) that is strongly luminescent in solutions and whose fluorescence quantum yield in acetone is as high as 83%. We revealed that 1(3,4) was a sensitive chemosensor capable of optically discriminating nitroaromatic regioisomers of p-, o-, and m-nitroanilines. Against general belief, crystal formation of 1(2,4) blue-shifted its emission color and boosted its emission efficiency. The light-emitting diode based on the crystal of 1(2,4) emitted a strong blue light (464 nm) in a high current efficiency (5.86 cd/A).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Enhanced emission efficiency and excited state lifetime due to restricted intramolecular motion in silole aggregates.

The aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties of 1,1,2,3,4,5-hexaphenylsilole (HPS) and poly{11-[(1,2,3,4,5-pentaphenylsilolyl)oxy]-1-phenyl-1-undecyne} (PS9PA) were studied by time-resolved fluorescence technique. The enhanced fluorescence and long fluorescent lifetime were obtained for the sample in an aggregate state as compared to the sample in solution. The time-decay of fluorescence of HPS and PS9PA in high viscosity solvents and low-temperature glasses has also been measured in detail to further investigate the possible mechanism for AIE. Enhanced light emission and long fluorescence lifetime were detected for both HPS and PS9PA in the solution-thickening and -cooling experiments. These results provided direct evidence that the enhanced photoluminescence (PL) efficiency is due to restricted intramolecular motion, which ascribes AIE to the deactivation of nonradiative decay caused by restricted torsional motions of the molecules in the solid state or aggregate form.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Functional polyacetylenes.

Polyacetylene (PA) is a Nobel Prize-winning macromolecule. In this work, PA is molecularly functionalized, which endows it with an array of new functional properties. The molecular functionalization is realized by attachment of functional pendants to the polyene backbone. Our efforts in the catalyst exploration and reaction optimization have led to the syntheses of a large number of PA derivatives carrying functional groups. Polymer reactions are exploited as an alternative route to the functional PAs that are difficult or impossible to access by direct polymerizations of their monomers. The new PAs with appropriate backbone-pendant combinations show various functional properties such as liquid crystallinity, photoconductivity, light emission, ionic susceptibility, photoresistance, chromism, helical chirality, optical nonlinearity, self-assembly, cytocompatibility, and bioactivity. The properties of the PAs are tuned internally and manipulated externally: the former is achieved by changing their molecular structures, especially their functional pendants, while the latter is accomplished by applying thermal, mechanical, electrical, photonic, and chemical stimuli.

Acetylene↗
PubMed2004

Silole nanocrystals as novel biolabels.

A novel class of biofunctional silole nanocrystals with the potential to create highly sensitive immunoassay was firstly demonstrated. Biolabels were constructed by encapsulating nanocrystalline hexaphenylsilole [Ph2Si(CPh)4HPS] within ultrathin polyelectrolyte layers via the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique that provided an "interface" for the attachment of antibodies. A high ratio of fluorescent dyes to biomolecules (F/P ratio; 2.4 x 10(3)) was achieved without self-quenching problem. The aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature offered silole biolabels the sensitivity 40- to 140-fold higher than that of a start-of-the-art immunoassay using directly fluorescent-labeled antibodies.

Crystallization↗
PubMed2004

Self-assembling of helical poly(phenylacetylene) carrying L-valine pendants in solution, on mica substrate, and on water surface.

In the present work, we investigated self-assembling of a poly(phenylacetylene) carrying L-valine pendants (PPA-Val) in a water/methanol solution, upon evaporation of the solution on mica, and on the water surface. With intercalation of a fluorescence probe of Ru(phen)2(dppx)2+ (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, dppx=7,8-dimethyldipyridophenazine) into the hydrophobic cavities associated by the PPA-Val chains, their helical structures were directly detected in solution with an in situ fluorescence microscope. Helical aggregates were observed with AFM upon evaporation of the solvents, suggesting that the helical structures in the solution are the building blocks of the helical aggregates. Self-assembling structures of PPA-Val on the water surface were, however, very different from that formed upon evaporation of its THF solution on the mica surface. The polymer chains associated into a monolayer of extended fibers on the water surface, whereas superhelical fibers formed on the mica surface. Water molecules play a critical role in inducing the polymer to form diverse morphological structures in its bulk solution and on its surface. In solution, the isotropic hydrophobic effect drove the polymer chains to form superhelical aggregates, while on the water surface, the hydrophobic effect concentrated mainly on the lateral part of the polymer, thus giving a monolayer of extended fibers.

Acetylene↗