A conducting composite of polyN-vinylcarbazole and polythiophene

A conducting composite comprising polyN-vinylcarbazole (PNVC) and polythiophene (PTP) was prepared by oxidative cross-linking of PNVC through pendant carbazole moieties in presence of anhydrous FeCl3 and TP monomer. The incorporation of PTP moiety in the skeleton of PNVC structure was endorsed by FTIR analysis. SEM analyses revealed distinct morphological features of the composite. TEM analyses confirmed the particle sizes to be in the 24-72 nm range for the composite. TG analyses revealed that the composite underwent 64% weight loss at 1000 degreesC while PNVC and PTP homopolymers revealed complete weight loss at 700 degreesC and 74% weight loss at 997 degreesC respectively. The DTA curve for PNVC-PTP composite showed two exothermic peaks, which indicated that there were two components in the PNVC-PTP composite. The dc conductivities of the composites prepared with the recipes used in this work were in the range (1-2) x 10(-4) S/cm, which were 10(8)-10(12)-fold improved relative to the PNVC conductivity. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.