Thermochromism in oligothiophenes: the role of the internal rotation

Abstract

The relation between thermochromism in polythiophenes and the internal rotation is studied by density-functional theory (DFT). For head-to-tail methyl-substituted thiophenes, rotational potential maps of dimer and trimer are calculated. With time-dependent-DFT methodology the absorption spectra of these oligomers in UV-vis region are calculated as functions of the torsional angles. Theoretical temperature-dependent UV-vis spectra are generated from the distribution of torsional angles. The results show that the internal rotation alone is not sufficient to explain the mechanism of thermochromism.