Self-Amplifying Semiconducting Polymers for Chemical Sensors

The ability of excited states (excitons) to migrate rapidly and efficiently through conjugated polymers makes these materials ideal for use in sensors based on fluorescence quenching or amplification of fluorescence signals. The structural features we are able to introduce into these polymers have allowed us both to design highly sensitive fluorescent sensors for specific analytes, such as the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT), and to create assemblies that control energy transfer along a predetermined path. The principles involved have broad utility in the design of sensory materials as well as of electronic devices and display components based on electronic polymers.