Conjugated polymers are promising materials for various cutting-edge technologies, especially for organic conducting materials and in the energy field. In this work, we have synthesized a new conjugated polymer and investigated the effect of distance between bond layers, side-chain functional groups (H, Br, OH, OCH3 and OC2H5) on structural characteristics, phase transition temperature (T), and electrical structure of C13H8OS using Density Functional Theory (DFT). The structural characteristics were determined by the shape, network constant (a, b and c), bond length (C–C, C–H, C–O, C–S, C–Br and O–H), phase transition temperatures, and the total energy (Etot) on a base cell. Our finding shows that the increase of layer thickness (h) of C13H8OS–H has a negligible effect on the transition temperature, while the energy bandgap (Eg) increases from 1.646 eV to 1.675 eV. The calculation of bond length with different side chain groups was carried out for which C13H8OS–H has C–H = 1.09 Å; C13H8OS–Br has C–Br = 1.93 Å; C13H8OS–OH has C–O = 1.36 Å, O–H = 0.78 Å; C13H8OS–OCH3 has C–O = 1.44 Å, O–H =1.10 Å; C13H8OS–OC2H5 has C–O = 1.45 Å, C–C = 1.51Å, C–H = 1.10 Å. The transition temperature (T) for C13H8OS–H was 500 K < T < 562 K; C13H8OS–Br was 442 K < T < 512 K; C13H8OS–OH was 487 K < T < 543 K; C13H8OS–OCH3 was 492 K < T < 558 K; and C13H8OS–OC2H5 was 492 K < T < 572 K. The energy bandgap (Eg) of Br is of Eg = 1.621 eV, the doping of side chain groups H, OH, OCH3, and OC2H5, leads to an increase of Eg from 1.621 eV to 1.646, 1.697, 1.920, and 2.04 eV, respectively.
The Role of the Side Chain on the Performance of N-type Conjugated Polymers in Aqueous Electrolytes