Electric-field-driven alignment of chiral conductive polymer thin films

We investigated the effect of an electric field on the alignment and structural properties of thin films of a chiral polybithiophene-based conductive polymer, functionalized with a protected l-cysteine amino acid. Thin films were obtained by exploiting both drop-casting and spin-coating procedures. The electric properties, the polarized Raman spectrum, the UV-vis spectrum, and the CD spectra were measured as a function of the electric field intensity applied during film formation. It was found that beyond the enhancement of the conductivity observed when the electric field aligns the polymer, the electric field significantly affects the chiral properties and the effect depends on the method of deposition.