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Polythiophene and its derivatives have become more desirable due to their
applications in various fields. These applications arise due to their inherent properties, such
ns optical and electronic conductive properties; as well as thermal and environmental
stability. Precursors of polythiophenes are generally obtained from petroleum by-products,
which are non-renewable. It has been reported that precursors of polythiophenes and its
derivatives are naturally available in different types of Tagetes species such as Tagetes
crecta, Tagetes tenuifolia, etc. A number of thiophene derivatives such as 2, 2’:5’, 2” -
(crthienyl (Alpha-T), 5-(3-buten-l-ynyl)-2,20-bithienyl (BBT), 5-(4-hydroxy-l-butynyl)-2,
20-bithienyl (BBTOH), and 5-(4-acetoxy-l-butynyl)-2, 20-bithienyl (BBTOAc), were
found and identified, specifically in the roots o f Tagetes species. The current study reports
the polymerization of the extracted thiophene derivatives from Tagetes erecta and 3-
hexylthiophene (3HT) to obtain a random copolymer o f poly (thiophenes-3-
hexylthiophene). The extracted thiophene derivatives were partially purified and
characterized. The mixture of plant based thiophenes and commercial 3HT with various
weight compositions were selectively polymerized on the direct one-step chemical
oxidative free radical polymerization to obtain co-polymers. Structural characterization of
the synthetic products was done using Fourier Transformation Infrared, Proton Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance, Ultra Violet Visible and X-ray Diffraction techniques.
Homopolymers of polythiophene obtained from plant based thiophenes have limited
processability of solar cells due to poor solubility in common organic solvents. Tlowever, a
significant progress of the solubility was observed with copolymers having partial
contribution of 3HT.
