Pure conducting hydrogel precursors and hydrogels formed of pure conducting polymer materials having a combination of high electrical conductivity, high stretchability, low Young's modulus, superior mechanical, electrical and electrochemical stability, and tunable swelling behaviors in wet physiological environments. The hydrogel precursors and hydrogels are fabricated by adding a polar organic solvent to an aqueous solution of the pure conducting polymer material, followed by controlled dry-annealing to form a hydrogel precursor which can be subsequently rehydrated to form a pure conducting polymer hydrogel which comprises at least 99% of the pure conducting polymer.

Compound comprising structural units represented by formula (1) and formula (2): ##STR00001## wherein X.sup.1, X.sup.2, X.sup.3 and X.sup.4 are the same or mutually different and represent a nitrogen atom or CH; Y.sup.1 and Y.sup.2 are the same or mutually different and represent a sulfur atom, an oxygen atom, a selenium atom, N(R.sup.1) or CR.sup.2CR.sup.3; R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are the same or mutually different and represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an amino group, a cyano group or a monovalent organic group; W.sup.1 and W.sup.3 are the same or mutually different and represent a halogen atom, a cyano group or a monovalent organic group; W.sup.2 and W.sup.4 are the same or mutually different and represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a cyano group or a monovalent organic group. The structural unit represented by formula (1) and the structural unit represented by formula (2) are not the same.

In an embodiment, a composition is provided that includes an indenofluorene moiety; an alkyl radical, an aryl radical, or a heteroaryl radical chemically bound to the indenofluorene moiety; and an electron donor moiety bound to the indenofluorene moiety. In another embodiment, a device is provided that includes compositions described herein. In another embodiment, a method of forming a donor-acceptor small molecule or a donor-acceptor copolymer is provided that includes forming an indenofluorene moiety; forming an electron donor moiety; and reacting the indenofluorene moiety with the electron donor moiety in a cross-coupling reaction.

A process includes providing furan-2,5-dicarboxylic dimethyl ester (FDME), reacting the FDME with a Grignard reagent to form a bis-alkylketone furan having R groups selected from the group consisting of a C.sub.1-C.sub.20 linear alkyl chain, a C.sub.2-C.sub.24 branched alkyl chain, and a hydrogen atom. An additional process includes mixing a 3,4-dibrominated bis-alkylketone furan with potassium carbonate, and adding ethyl-mercaptoacetate to the mixture. This process also includes stirring the mixture to form a bis-alkyl-DTF diester fused ring structure, which is then brominated to form a dibromo-DTF compound.

This disclosure relates generally to electrochromic polymers that include a plurality of -conjugated chromophores in spaced relation with one another, and a plurality of conjugation-break spacers (CBSs), where at least one CBS separates adjacent chromophores. The chromophores may be colored in the neutral state, and multicolored to transmissive in different oxidization states.

An electrochromic polymer is comprised of a repeat unit comprising one or more meta-conjugated linkers (MCLs) and one or more aromatic moieties (Ars). Each of the one or more MCLs is partially conjugated with the one or more Ars at meta positions of the MCLs to form a polymer backbone of the electrochromic polymer. The electrochromic polymer undergoes an optical switching and a color change in an electrochromic device, which shows a high transparency and a high optical contrast.

A method for preparing polymers by direct heteroarylation or arylation polycondensation is described herein. The method includes preparing a reaction mixture including at least a monomer to be polymerized, a catalyst and a ligand; heating the reaction mixture; and, optionally, end-capping the reaction mixture.

In one aspect, composite polymeric compositions are described herein which, in some embodiments, are thermally responsive to electromagnetic radiation for the destruction of microbes and associated biofilms. Briefly, a composite polymeric composition comprises a polymeric matrix and photo-thermal particles comprising conjugated polymer dispersed in the polymeric matrix, the photo-thermal particles providing sufficient heat to destroy microbial species upon irradiation with infrared radiation.

The invention relates to an organic photodetector (OPD) comprising a photoactive layer that contains an electron acceptor and an electron donor, the acceptor being an n-type semiconductor which is a small molecule that does not contain a fullerene moiety, and the electron donor being a p-type semiconductor which is a conjugated copolymer comprising donor and acceptor units.

Electrochromic polymers that include a plurality of -conjugated chromophores in spaced relation with one another, and a plurality of conjugation-break spacers (CBSs), where at least one CBS separates adjacent chromophores, are provided. The chromophores may be colored in the neutral state, and multicolored to transmissive in different oxidation states.