Orientation of nanowires consisting of poly(3-hexylthiophene) using strong magnetic field

Nanowires consisting of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a conducting polymer were prepared using p-xylene. Magnetic processing of the nanowires was carried out using two superconducting magnets with horizontal (B-max = 8T) and vertical (B-max = 10T) directions. The formation of the nanowires was confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurement. The results from the AFM images and the polarized absorption spectra on glass plates indicated that the nanowires partly oriented themselves with their long axes, which are parallel to the pi-pi stacking direction, being perpendicular to the magnetic field. The magnetic orientation is most likely ascribed to anisotropy in the magnetic susceptibilities of the ordered P3HT in the nanowires. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.