Electrical and Mechanical Properties of PDMPV

Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Polyacetylene Films Oriented by Tensile Drawing [75] 

Tensile drawing of the wet polyacetylene films yielded a maximum stretching ratio of about 15 for the thick films and about 10 for thin films. By contrast, fully dried polyacetylene films could not be extended beyond 6 times their original length under otherwise similar experimental conditions. Some variation in the maximum stretching ratio, Xmax. was found, dependent on the characteristics of the liquid used as plasticizer . Specifically, it was observed that Xmax was dependent on the boiling point and the specific composition in the case of mixed liquids. The results seem to indicate that Xmax is dependent on the relative content of solvent in the film and on the speed of evaporation of the solvent from bulk of the film. Hexadienes, for example, were found to be excellent plasticizers for polyacetylene, presumably due to the easier penetration of these liquids into the polyacetylene lattice because of the similarity in molecular structures. Pure aromatic solvents appeared to be the least effective however, a 4 1 mixture of toluene and cumene yielded excellent results. 

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