Novel heteroarylene polyazomethines: their syntheses and characterizations

Novel thiophene or furan-containing polyazomethines were synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization with ferric(III) chloride. The structures of the undoped and doped polymers were evaluated by FTi.r., elemental analysis, u.v.-vis spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and their thermal stability determined using thermogravimetric analysis (t.g.a.). The conductivities of the undoped polymers were less than 10(-8) S cm(-1), while those of the doped ones were in the range of 10(-7) to 10(-6) S cm(-1). The low conductivity values were attributed to the low degree of conjugation in the polymers caused by non-planarity of the polymer chains. The thiophene-containing polymers underwent sulfur extrusion during polymerization, resulting in an interruption of conjugation in the polymer backbone with consequent diminished electrical conductivity. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.