Editing Poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (section)

==Aspirational uses==

Due to its stability, processability, and electrical and optical properties, PPV has been considered for a wide variety of applications.<ref name="Reynolds" /> In 1989 the first polymer-based light emitting diode (LED) was discovered using PPV as the emissive layer.<ref name="Burroughes">{{Cite journal |display-authors=6 |vauthors=Burroughes JH, Bradley DD, Brown AR, Marks RN, Mackay K, Friend RH, Burns PL, Holmes AB |date=October 1990 |title=Light-emitting diodes based on conjugated polymers. |journal=Nature |volume=347 |issue=6293 |pages=539–541 |bibcode=1990Natur.347..539B |doi=10.1038/347539a0 |s2cid=43158308}}</ref> Polymers are speculated to have advantages over molecular materials in LEDs, such as ease of processing, reduced tendency for crystallization, and greater thermal and mechanical stability. Ever since the first breakthrough in 1989, a large number of PPV derivatives have been synthesized and used for LED applications. Although solid-state lasing has yet to be demonstrated in an organic LED, poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) has been proven to be a promising laser dye due to its high fluorescence efficiency in solution.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Moses D |date=June 1992 |title=High quantum efficiency luminescence from a conducting polymer in solution: A novel polymer laser dye. |journal=Applied Physics Letters |volume=60 |issue=26 |pages=3215–3216 |bibcode=1992ApPhL..60.3215M |doi=10.1063/1.106743}}</ref>

Polyphenylene vinylene is  [[electroluminescence|electroluminescent]], suggesting applications in polymer-based [[organic light emitting diode]]s. PPV was used as the emissive layer in the first polymer light-emitting diodes.<ref name="Burroughes" /> Devices based on PPV emit yellow-green light, and derivatives of PPV obtained by [[Substitution (chemistry)|substitution]] are often used when light of a different color is required. In presence of even a small amount of [[oxygen]], [[singlet oxygen]] is formed during operation, by energy transfer from the excited polymer molecules to oxygen molecules. These oxygen radicals then attack the structure of the polymer, leading to its degradation.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

PPV has also been investigated as an electron-donor in [[organic solar cell]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |display-authors=6 |vauthors=Li J, Sun N, Guo ZX, Li C, Li Y, Dai L, Zhu D, Sun D, Cao Y, Fan L |year=2002 |title=Photovoltaic Devices with Methanofullerenes as Electron Acceptors |journal=The Journal of Physical Chemistry B |volume=106 |issue=44 |pages=11509–11514 |doi=10.1021/jp025973v}}</ref> PPV-based devices however suffer from poor absorption and [[photodegradation]].<ref>{{Cite journal |author-link=Niyazi Serdar Sarıçiftçi |vauthors=Sariciftci NS, Braun D, Zhang C, Srdanov VI, Heeger AJ, Stucky G, Wudl F |date=February 1993 |title=Semiconducting polymer-buckminsterfullerene heterojunctions: Diodes, photodiodes, and photovoltaic cells. |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/eeng_fac/54 |journal=Applied Physics Letters |volume=62 |issue=6 |pages=585–587 |bibcode=1993ApPhL..62..585S |doi=10.1063/1.108863|url-access=subscription }}</ref>