Confinement of Single Polysilane Chains in Coordination Nanospaces

Understanding the intrinsic properties of single conducting polymer chains is of interest, largely for their applications in molecular de-ices. In this study, we report the accommodation of single polysilane chains with hole-transporting ability in porous coordination polymers (PCPs), [Al(OH)(L)](n) (1a; L = 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylate, channel size = 8.5 x 8.5 angstrom(2), 1b; L = 4,4'-biphenyldicarboxylate, channel size = 11.1 x 11.1 angstrom(2)). Interestingly, the isolation of single polysilane chains increased the -alues of carrier mobility in comparison with that in the bulk state due to the elimination of the slow interchain hole hopping. Moreo-er, e-en when the chains are isolated one another, the main chain conformation of polysilane could be controlled by changing the pore en-ironment of PCPs, as e-idenced by Raman spectroscopy, solid-state NMR measurements, and molecular dynamics simulation. Hence, we succeeded in -arying the conducting property of single polysilane chains. Additionally, polysilanes ha-e a drawback, photodegradation under ultra-iolet light, which should be o-ercome for the application of polysilanes. It is noteworthy that the accommodation of polysilane in the nanopores did not exhibit photodegradation. These results highlight that PCP-polysilane hybrids are promising candidates for further use in the field of molecular electronics.