Black photoactive materials that comprise synthetic eumelanin polymers are provided, as are methods of making and using the polymers. The synthetic eumelanin polymers are made from the plant oil vanillin, and exhibit defined structural and chemical characteristics (e.g. homogeneity, solubility, etc.) that make them suitable for use in devices that require photoactive materials, such as solar cells.

A method and sensor array for identification of an analyte is disclosed. The method comprises preparing a plurality of solutions at a plurality of pH values of at least one fluorescent poly(para-phenyleneethynylene) and its complex(es), exposing the complex analyte to the plurality of the solutions and measuring the fluorescence intensity of the exposed complex analyte. The fluorescence intensity is compared with a library and the complex analyte identified from the comparison.

Disclosed herein are redox-active 6-oxoverdazyl polymers having structures (S1) and (S2) synthesized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and their solution, bulk, and thin-film properties investigated. Detailed studies of the ROMP method employed confirmed that stable radical polymers with controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions (<1.2) were produced. Thermal gravimetric analysis of a representative example of the title polymers demonstrated stability up to 190 C., while differential scanning calorimetry studies revealed a glass transition temperature of 152 C. An ultrathin memristor device was produced using these polymers, namely a 10 nm homogeneous thin film of poly-[1,5-diisopropyl-3-(cis-5-norbornene-exo-2,3-dicarboxiimide)-6-oxoverdazyl] (P6OV), a poly-radical with three tunable charge states per each radical monomer: positive, neutral and negative.

A charge transport material containing a charge transport polymer that satisfies at least one of (I) or (II) described below: (I) to independently have both a monovalent substituent having an alicyclic structure of 7 or more carbon atoms, and a monovalent substituent having a carbonyl-containing group; and (II) to have a monovalent substituent that includes a monovalent substituent having an alicyclic structure of 7 or more carbon atoms bonded directly to a carbonyl-containing group.

A composition having excellent dischargeability by an ink jet method and reduced clogging of an ink jet apparatus is provided. The composition contains a fluorinated alcohol A represented by the formula (1) and having a boiling point of 50 C. or more and less than 150 C., a fluorinated alcohol B represented by the formula (1) and having a boiling point of 150 C. or more and less than 300 C., and a charge transportable compound, in which the rate of the fluorinated alcohol B with respect to 100 parts by mass of the sum of the fluorinated alcohol A and the fluorinated alcohol B is 10 parts by mass to 90 parts by mass:

C.sub.nFH.sub.2nF+1-mFF.sub.mFOH (1)

In formula (1), nF is an integer of 1 to 12 and mF is an integer of 1 to 25, provided that 2nF+1mF.

A material comprising an electron-accepting unit of formula (I): Ar is an aromatic ring; Ar.sup.1 is a substituted or unsubstituted 5- or 6-membered heteroaromatic ring containing N and C ring atoms; when Ar.sup.1 is a substituted or unsubstituted 6-membered heteroaromatic ring, Ar.sup.2 is a substituted or unsubstituted 6-membered heteroaromatic ring wherein the ring atoms are selected from N and C; when Ar.sup.1 is a 5-membered heteroaromatic ring, Ar.sup.2 is a substituted or unsubstituted 5- or 6-membered heteroaromatic ring; Ar.sup.3 is a 5-membered ring or a substituted or unsubstituted 6-membered ring; Ar.sup.4 is a 5-membered ring or a substituted or unsubstituted 6-membered ring or is absent; Ar.sup.5 is a substituted or unsubstituted monocyclic or polycyclic group containing at least one aromatic or heteroaromatic ring; Ar.sup.6 is a substituted or unsubstituted monocyclic or polycyclic group containing at least one aromatic or heteroaromatic ring or is absent; and each X is independently a substituent bound to a C atom of Ar.sup.3, and where present Ar.sup.4, with the proviso that at least one X is an electron withdrawing group; and wherein the material further comprises an electron-donating unit.

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The present disclosure provides for the development and applications of monomeric, oligomeric and/or polymeric semiconductor materials comprising a five-membered heteroaromatic unit (e.g., thiophene; furan; selenophene; etc.) that includes an acrylyl or an acrylyl-like (CCCO) side chain. The semiconductor materials can be used as organic semiconductors for use in electronic, optical, or optoelectronic devices such as organic thin film transistors and organic photovoltaics. The disclosed semiconductor materials (e.g., semiconducting polymer compounds) can be used as high performance semiconductors (e.g., for organic solar cells or organic photovoltaics (OPVs)), and the disclosed semiconductor materials can be used for other devices (e.g., organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) and sensors, etc.).

A block copolymer includes an end group, a block that binds to the end group, and a block that does not bind to the end group. The block that does not bind to the end group contains at least one non-crosslinkable constitutional unit represented by the formula (X) and/or at least one non-crosslinkable constitutional unit represented by the formula (Z). At least one of formulas (i) X.sub.I>X.sub.II, (ii) Z.sub.I>Z.sub.II and (iii) X.sub.I+Z.sub.I>X.sub.II+Z.sub.II is satisfied when the total number of non-crosslinkable constitutional units represented by formulas (X) and (Z) in the block that does not bind to the end group are represented by X.sub.I and Z.sub.I, respectively, and the total number of non-crosslinkable constitutional units represented by formulas (X) and (Z) in the block that binds to the end group are represented by X.sub.II and Z.sub.II, respectively.

The disclosure relates to a method of making carbon fiber, the method comprising pyrolyzing poly(p-phenylene) (PPP) fiber at a temperature sufficient to convert PPP fiber substantially to carbon fiber. The disclosure also relates to pre-PPP polymer, methods for making PPP fiber from pre-PPP polymer and, in turn, making carbon fiber from PPP fiber.

Gas sensors are provided. The gas sensors comprise: a substrate; a plurality of electrodes on the substrate; and a polymeric sensing layer on the substrate for adsorbing a gas-phase analyte. The adsorption of the analyte is effective to change a property of the gas sensor that results in a change in an output signal from the gas sensor. The polymeric sensing layer comprises a polymer chosen from substituted or unsubstituted polyarylenes comprising the reaction product of monomers comprising a first monomer comprising an aromatic acetylene group and a second monomer comprising two or more cyclopentadienone groups, or a cured product of the reaction product. The gas sensors and methods of using such sensors find particular applicability in the sensing of gas-phase organic analytes.