Photovoltaic Properties of Poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-vinylene )-co-{2-(3'-dimethyldodecylsilylphenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene}] for Electro-Active Devices

New, thermally robust, arylenevinylene conjugated polymers, including poly(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-vinylene) [poly(FV)] and poly[2-(3'-dimethyldodecylsilylphenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] [poly(m-SiPhPV)], were synthesized and used for the fabrication of efficient photovoltaic cells. Bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells fabricated by blending one of the polymers, [poly(FV)], [poly(m-SiPhPV)], and poly(FV-co-m-SiPhPV), with the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl-$C_{61}$-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) were found to have a power conversion efficiency of up to 0.038%..