External field induced crystallization of poly(3-dodecylthiophene)

In order to investigate the effect of external field on the crystallization behavior of poly(3-dodecylthiophene) (P3DDT), the samples were recrystallized with different electrostatic field intensity, different pressure and different solidification direction in temperature gradient field. Measurements of differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction were operated to characterize these samples for analysis. The results suggest that after recrystallization, whether the external field is added or not, a more compact packing of molecular chains in P3DDT could be obtained without the change of the crystal structure model. Moreover, the addition of electrostatic field has greater effects on the crystallization of rigid main chains than on that of flexible side chains. Merely great pressure field can effect the rearrangements of molecular chains greatly. As for the temperature gradient field induced crystallization, different oriented solidification direction will lead to different effects on the compact degree and perfect degree of molecular chains packing.