Development of Novel Triazine-Based Poly(phenylene sulfide)s with High Refractive Index and Low Birefringence.

High-refractive-index (high-) polymers with a high optical transparency and low birefringence (Δ) have been desired in progressive optoelectronic devices. However, the trade-off between high- and low-Δ remains a challenge at present. Here, the development of a novel array of high-, high-sulfur-containing, highly transparent, colorless poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) polymers bearing triazine units in the main chains is reported. Six new triazine monomers with various pendant groups via different linkers (-O- and -NH-) could be prepared for developing PPSs with high- and low Δ values. These PPSs () were obtained by the polycondensation of with commercial aromatic dithiol, 4,4'-thiobisbenzenethiol, respectively, which showed very high- values ( : 1.6902-1.7169 at 633 nm), high optical transparency ( % > 90% @ 400 nm), and low birefringence (Δ = 0.0015-0.0042). All the PPSs displayed high values (1.6340-1.6654), providing valuable information for the development of high- triazine-based PPS materials for application not only in the visible region but also in the near-infrared region.