In the field of electronic organic materials, conjugated polymers (CPs) have attracted much attention in recent years. It has been well-established that performances of thin-film devices based on π-conjugated polymers, such as light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors and photovoltaic cells, are strongly dependent on the organisation of the polymer molecules and their interactions with other constituents in multicomponent devices. The use of CPs in integrated circuits, solar cells, light-emitting diodes or sensors often requires their covalent fixation and patterning on various surfaces. CPs can be grafted to functionalized surfaces by (electro)chemical cross-linking; however, it is difficult to control a structural order within the cross-linked films. The attachment of CP chains to substrates by their end-points to form polymer brushes would be an interesting alternative, and could possibly be crucial for many devices requiring charge injection and charge transport processes. The main aim of this work, which was the synthesis of covalently grafted conjugated polymer brushes on solid substrates using a "grafting from" approach, was successfully performed. During the course of this work, the process of surface-initiated polycondensation was investigated. The newly developed method to selectively graft conjugated polymers from different substrates such as Si-wafers, quartz slides or modificated nanoparticles allowed us to produce different architectures which were earlier possible to prepare only non-conductive polymers. Exposure of the substrate with an activated surface layer into the monomer solution produced polymer brushes in a very economical way. Since only monomer was consumed for grafting from the surface. The grafting process was extensively investigated by different methods, and the thickness of the obtained poly(fluorene) films was elucidated by Null-ellipsometry and confirmed by the AFM scratch-test. Preliminary characteristics of the device, based on PS(Br)-core poly(octylfluorene)-shell nanoparticles, showed satisfactory results (such as turn-on voltage and electroluminescence in a blue region). They could be improved by replacement of the insulating PS(Br)-core of nanoparticles with other substances (semiconductive, etc.). There is still plenty of room for further development and improvement of the synthesis of poly(fluorene)-based polymer brushes. The polymer structures developed in this work can be utilized as an active layer in lab-on-chip devices. Alkyl groups in the 9th position of the poly(fluorene) monomer unit can be replaced by tailored receptors to detect specific species including small molecules, metal ions and biomolecules due to enhanced sensitivity through sensory signal amplification. Post-polymerization modifications may lead to highly water-swellable conjugated polyelectrolyte brushes. Also, polymerization of initially optically active fluorene-monomers may be the crucial step to the generation of a light source devices with a large degree of circularly polarized electroluminescence. This is of great interest for utilization as backlight for liquid crystalline displays. We believe that the utilization of covalently surface-immobilized conjugated polymers may have a great impact on the development of present-day technological processes.

Grâce à des expériences en ultra-vide avec un AFM en mode non-contact (nc-AFM) et une nano-sonde de Kelvin (KPFM), nous avons pu précisément caractériser plusieurs dépôts de molécules sur différentes surfaces isolantes, dont la surface (001) de monocristaux de NaCl dopés par des ions Cd2+, appelée la surface de Suzuki. Cette surface est nanostructurée de façon à ce que deux régions très distinctes coexistent : des régions de NaCl pures et des régions de Suzuki qui recouvrent partiellement la surface (001) du cristal. Nous montrons que la surface de Suzuki peut être utilisée comme surface nanostructurée dans le but de confiner l'adsorption de nano-objets tels que des molécules organiques ou inorganiques. Après déposition de différentes molécules pentahélicènes fonctionalisées, une large partie de celles-ci reste préférentiellement adsorbée dans les régions de Suzuki. Suite aux observations nc-AFM et KPFM un modèle sera présenté sur les mécanismes d'adsorption et désorption de ces hélicènes, accompagné d'une étude étonnante sur des ilots de molécules fullerènes C60 déposés sur plusieurs surfaces isolantes, et la manipulation de charges dans ces ilots. / Thanks to ultra high vacuum experiments using non-contact AFM and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), we have been able to characterize precisely several depositions of molecules on different surfaces, including the (001) surface of a Cd2+ doped NaCl single crystal called the Suzuki surface. This surface is nanostructured such as two different regions coexist : pure NaCl regions and Suzuki regions covering partially the (001) surface. We show that the Suzuki surface can be used as a nanotemplate in order to confine the adsorption of nano-objects such as organic or inorganic molecules. After deposition of different functionalised pentahelicenes molecules, a large part of those stay preferentially adsorbed on Suzuki regions. Following the nc-AFM and KPFM observations a model will be presented on the mechanism of adsorption and desorption of those helicenes, accompanied with a astonishing study about fullerenes C60 molecules deposed on several surfaces, and the charge manipulation in these islands.