Photodegradation of polyfluorene and fluorene oligomers with alkyl and aromatic disubstitutions

The degradation of polyfluorenes (PFs) and fluorene oligomers with alkyl and aromatic substitutions under ultraviolet (UV)-light irradiation is studied. The experiments have concluded that the degradation of fluorene is a radical chain process propagated by alkyl side chains and the different stability between alkyl and aromatic substitution can be well described.