The development of new and efficient polymerization routes for the construction of novel functional polymers is of great significance in both academic and technological fields. Unlike conventional polyolefins or condensation polymers, acetylenic polymers generally possess unique π-conjugated electronic structure, which endow them with interesting photophysical properties and advanced functionalities.

The main objective of this thesis is to design and synthesize new functional acetylenic polymers with good solubility and high molecular weights by developing facile and powerful polymerization routes from the reported alkyne-based organic reactions. To achieve this goal, diverse monomers have been prepared and the polymerization conditions were systematically optimized. The struct...[ Read more ]

The development of new and efficient polymerization routes for the construction of novel functional polymers is of great significance in both academic and technological fields. Unlike conventional polyolefins or condensation polymers, acetylenic polymers generally possess unique π-conjugated electronic structure, which endow them with interesting photophysical properties and advanced functionalities.

The main objective of this thesis is to design and synthesize new functional acetylenic polymers with good solubility and high molecular weights by developing facile and powerful polymerization routes from the reported alkyne-based organic reactions. To achieve this goal, diverse monomers have been prepared and the polymerization conditions were systematically optimized. The structures and properties of the obtained polymers were carefully characterized and investigated using various techniques, such as GPC, IR, NMR, TGA, DSC, UV, PL, XPS, RI, SEM, fluorescent microscope, DFT theoretical calculations, etc. The potential applications of the obtained polymers in various fields were also explored.

In this thesis, four different two-component polymerization routes of aromatic monomers and internal alkynes have been developed to synthesize various functional polymers with fused aromatic rings. Meanwhile, an efficient multicomponent polymerization route with terminal alkyne as one of the monomers was developed to construct unconventional luminescent polymers with readily openable small heterocycles. The obtained polymers generally possess excellent solubility, good thermal stability and film-forming ability, high refractive index, and low chromatic dispersion. Some polymers exhibit unique aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties and can be used for the fabrication of fluorescent photopatterns and for bioimaging applications. Besides, an interesting project on the utilization of fluorescent AIE probes for the high-contrast visualization and differentiation of microphase separation in polymer blends was also described herein.