Hierarchical Helical Assembly of Conjugated Poly(3-hexylthiophene)-block-poly(3-triethylene glycol thiophene) Diblock Copolymers

We report on the solution-state assembly of all-conjugated polythiophene diblock copolymers containing nonpolar (hexyl) and polar (triethylene glycol) side chains. The polar substituents provide a large contrast in solubility, enabling formation of stably suspended crystalline fibrils even under very poor solvent conditions for the poly(3-hexylthiophene) block. For appropriate block ratios, complexation of the triethylene glycol side chains with added potassium ions drives the formation of helical nanowires that further bundle into superhelical structures.