A molecular insight on the supramolecular assembly of thiophene polymersElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: 1H NMR and ESI-MS of all samples. Excitation polarisation of all samples, SEM images, PL anisotropy and linear dichroism. See DOI: 10.1039/c2jm30550j

Herein, the relationship between supramolecularly self-assembled microstructures and the chemical structures of photoluminescent molecules is discussed. A series of non-amphiphilic molecules with different length alkyl chains (4-14), central mesogenic groups, and chemical linkers were designed and synthesized. Intricate analysis shows that the supramolecular assembly varies with change in torsion angle of the thiophene linking group on elongation of the alkyl chain. Small angle X-ray scattering measurement shows long range molecular interaction for lower alkyl chain length, AFM reveals circular domains for octyl and decyl alkyl group polymers. UV-Visible and photoluminescence studies in solution and thin-film show that the J-aggregate patterns for the circular domain of the polymer backbone has a major effect on the polymer absorbance, and produces a larger shift for the photoluminescence signals at higher wavelengths. Excitation polarisation studies show a change in molecular ordering in various colour regions with change in aggregation by means of maximum dichroic ratio for the circular domain assembly. Charge carrier mobility and cyclic voltammetry studies show higher mobility and reduced band gap for these circular domain polymers. Dynamic light scattering studies of octyl alkyl chain polymers show a bimodal distribution, which shows the apparent nature of anisotropy in solution. Herein, the relationship between supramolecularly self-assembled microstructures and the chemical structures of photoluminescent molecules is discussed.