SYNTHESIS AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITIES OF POLY(2,3,5,6-TETRAMETHOXY-1,4-PHENYLENEVINYLENE) AND A SERIES OF POLY(1,4-PHENYLENEVINYLENE-CO-2,3,5,6-TETRAMETHOXY-1,4-PHENYLENEVINYLENE)S

Poly(2,3,5,6-tetramethoxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (PTMPV) and a series of poly(1,4-phenylenevinylene-co-2,3,5,6-tetramethoxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene)s (poly(PV-co-TMPV)) were prepared via the water-soluble precursor method. They were obtained in film form and could be readily doped with FeCl3. A uniaxially drawn film (draw ratio = 10) of PTMPV can be doped with FeCl3 to give a conductivity of 1.1 X 10(-2) S cm-1 along the draw direction. In contrast, copolymers containing only intermediate levels of the TMPV unit are dopable with iodine, whereas those containing either a very low or a very high level of the TMPV unit are not dopable with the same dopant. The uniaxially drawn (drawn ratio = 10) copolymer film containing 13.3 mol % of the TMPV unit reveals the highest conductivities among the series, which are 7.2 X 10(2) and 5.2 x 10(-1) S cm-1, respectively, when doped with FeCl3 and I2. The infrared and UV-vis spectra of TMPV and its copolymers are presented. According to their IR spectra, the copolymers containing TMPV units show the presence of both trans- and cis-vinylene structures. The IR absorption intensity of the cis-vinylene configuration increases with increasing content of the TMPV unit.