An environmentally friendly water-soluble conjugated polythiophene poly[2-(3-thienyl)-ethoxy-4-butylsulfonate] (PTEBS) has been found to be effective for making hybrid solar cells. In this work, we first report the enzyme-catalyzed polymerization of (3-thienyl)-ethoxy-4-butylsulfonate (TEBS) using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme as a catalyst and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as an oxidant in an aqueous buffer. This enzyme-catalyzed polymerization is a "green synthesis process" for the synthesis of water-soluble conjugated PTEBS, the benefits of which include a simple setting, high yields, and an environmentally friendly route. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and UV⁻Vis absorption spectra confirm the successful enzyme-catalyzed polymerization of TEBS. The thermo gravimetric (TG) data show the obtained PTEBS is stable over a fairly high range of temperatures. The present PTEBS has a good solubility in water and ethanol, and photoluminescence quenching of PTEBS/titanium dioxide (TiO₂) composite implies that the excitons dissociate and separate successfully at the interface of PTEBS and TiO₂, which help to build solar cells using green processing methods.
Keywords: enzyme-catalyzed polymerization; hybrid solar cell; water-soluble polythiophene.