“Towards zero energy gap and superconducting conjugated multidimensional polymers”

Project manager: prof. dr hab. inż. Mieczysław Łapkowski

Project implementation period: 01.06.2022-31.05.2026

The main goal of the proposed project is the synthesis of new amidine monomers, and then polymers with a three-dimensional structure, characterized by the occurrence of a band gap with a value close to zero. The monomers will be synthesized by the reaction of appropriate aromatic anhydrides or dianhydrides with diamines. For example, the use of aromatic meta- and para-diamines will enable the formation of linear polymers with bis(diimide) units; while the use of ortho-diamines results in the formation of a ladder polymer with five-membered heterocyclic rings (reference systems). We propose the synthesis of monomers produced by condensation of aromatic dianhydrides and 1,8-naphthalenediamine, which results in the presence of a perimidine unit in the monomer structure, which, as we have discovered, participates in the oxidative coupling of monomer molecules to the polymer structure. We also propose the use of dianhydrides functionalized also in the aromatic core with polymerizable units (e.g. thiophene, pyrrole, EDOT, etc.), which will ultimately enable the stiffening of the two-dimensional structure. Moreover, increased long-range interactions, involving, among others, the perimidine molecule, can promote supramolecular organization in the third dimension. To sum up, the proper selection of anhydride and amine can result in the formation of an appropriate monomer, which then gives a polymer with a flat two-dimensional skeleton and significant long-range interactions between 2D polymer layers, which can ultimately ensure the production of a new organic material with high electrical conductivity and low band gap width.