A material comprising a group of formula (I): (I) wherein: X and Y are each independently selected from S, O or Se; Ar1, Ar2, Ar3 and Ar4 are each independently an unsubstituted or a substituted benzene, an unsubstituted or a substituted 5- or 6-membered heteroaromatic group or are absent; A.sup.1 and A.sup.2 are each independently an unsubstituted or a substituted benzene, an unsubstituted or a substituted 5- or 6-membered heteroaromatic group, a non-aromatic 6-membered ring having ring atoms selected from C, N, S and O or are absent; R.sup.1 is H or a substituent; R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are each independently H or a substituent; and * represents a point of attachment to a hydrogen or non-hydrogen substituent.

##STR00001##

Polymer embodiments comprising nanohoop-containing polymer backbones are described, along with methods of making and using the same. The polymer embodiments exhibit unique radial and linear conjugation and can be used in a variety of devices, such as electronic and/or optoelectronic devices.

A liquid composition includes a thiophene polymer; and at least one polymerization component selected from the group including a monomer and an oligomer.

A ring-opened copolymer composition has a ring-opened copolymer containing structural unit derived from a norbornene compound represented by general formula (1) below and structural unit derived from a monocyclic olefin, wherein a content of a norbornene compound represented by general formula (1) is 1 ppm by weight or more and 1000 ppm by weight or less based on the ring-opened copolymer, ##STR00001## wherein R.sup.1 to R.sup.4 are each a hydrogen atom, a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, or a substituent containing a halogen atom, a silicon atom, an oxygen atom or a nitrogen atom, and R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 may be bonded to each other to form a ring, and “m” is 0 or 1.

A liquid composition includes a thiophene polymer; and at least one polymerization component selected from the group including a monomer and an oligomer.

A method of producing a polymer compound which is capable of improving yield while lowering the dispersity of the molecular weight is described. The method of producing polymer compound A containing a constitutional unit (1-2) having a group obtained by removing one or more hydrogen atoms present on Ar.sup.1 from a compound represented by the formula [1-2] involves a first step of separating high molecular weight components contained in a polymer compound B by a fractionation precipitation method from the polymer compound B containing a constitutional unit (1-1) having a group obtained by removing one or more hydrogen atoms present on Ar.sup.1 from a compound represented by the formula [1-1], to obtain a polymer compound C composed of the high molecular weight components, and a second step of converting the constitutional unit (1-1) contained in polymer compound C into constitutional unit (1-2), to obtain polymer compound A:

##STR00001##

A thermoelectric conversion element includes: a thermoelectric conversion layer containing a thiophene polymer, in which a peak intensity of a diffraction angle (2θ) of 7.9° is 5 times or more a peak intensity of a diffraction angle (2θ) of 25.8° in an X-ray diffraction spectrum of the thermoelectric conversion layer.

The present embodiment provides a material for forming an underlayer film for lithography, containing at least any of a compound represented by following formula (1) or a resin including a structural unit derived from a compound represented by the following formula (1), ##STR00001##
wherein R.sup.1 represents a 2n-valent group having 1 to 60 carbon atoms, or a single bond, each R.sup.2 independently represents a halogen atom, a straight, branched or cyclic alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, an aryl group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms, an alkenyl group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 30 carbon atoms, a thiol group, a hydroxyl group, or a group where a hydrogen atom of a hydroxyl group is substituted with an acid-dissociable group, and may be the same or different in the same naphthalene ring or benzene ring, in which at least one R.sup.2 represents a group where a hydrogen atom of a hydroxyl group is substituted with an acid-dissociable group, n is an integer of 1 to 4, and structural formulae of n structural units in square brackets [ ] may be the same or different when n is an integer of 2 or more, X represents an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, or a non-bridging group, each m.sup.2 is independently an integer of 0 to 7, provided that at least one m.sup.2 is an integer of 1 to 7, and each q is independently 0 or 1.

A method for producing a PEDOT film on a substrate comprising a substrate and at least one PEDOT layer on a surface of the substrate is disclosed. The method comprises applying a solution comprising an oxidant and a base inhibitor on a surface of the substrate; subjecting the oxidant-coated substrate to a polymerization step by exposing the surface (s) of the oxidant-coated substrate to EDOT monomer vapour at a polymerization temperature; and wherein, during the polymerization step, the temperature of the oxidant-coated substrate is kept at a controlled substrate temperature and wherein the controlled substrate temperature is 2-40° C. lower than the polymerization temperature. Further is disclosed a conducting PEDOT film, an electronic device comprising the conducting PEDOT film and different uses of the conducting PEDOT film. Further, is disclosed a method for producing a polymer film formed of a copolymer, a conducting polymer film, an electronic device comprising the conducting polymer film and different uses of the conducting polymer film.

A method for producing a PEDOT film on a substrate comprising a substrate and at least one PEDOT layer on a surface of the substrate is disclosed. The method comprises applying a solution comprising an oxidant and a base inhibitor on a surface of the substrate; subjecting the oxidant-coated substrate to a polymerization step by exposing the surface(s) of the oxidant-coated substrate to EDOT monomer vapour at a polymerization temperature; and wherein, during the polymerization step, the temperature of the oxidant-coated substrate is kept at a controlled substrate temperature and wherein the controlled substrate temperature is 2-40° C. lower than the polymerization temperature. Further is disclosed a conducting PEDOT film, an electronic device comprising the conducting PEDOT film and different uses of the conducting PEDOT film.