Poly acetylene

13C NMR shows that the C=C double bonds are located between the carbon atoms of the original acetylene molecule, showing that the polymerization is indeed a simple m-insertion 9 . As prepared by this method polyacetylene is a free-standing film. On closer examination its density is found to be around 0.4 g cm-3, only about 30 % of the value (1.16 g cm-3) predicted from x-ray analysis, and electron microscopy 

One of the most interesting alternatives to the Shirakawa catalyst has been the systems disclosed by Luttinger 22-23) and later elaborated by Lieser et al. 24). The tris(2-cyanoethyl)phosphine complex of nickel chloride reacts with sodium boro-hydride to produce a catalyst system capable of polymerizing acetylene in solutions in either alcohol or, quite remarkably, water. A more efficient catalyst is obtained by replacing the nickel complex with cobalt nitrate. Interest in Luttinger polyacetylene seems to have waned in the last few years. 

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Other polymers ia this category iaclude CJ-conjugated polygermylenes (20) and TT-conjugated poly acetylene, polythiophene, and poly(p-phenylenevinylene). The photoconductivity of many TT-conjugated polymers can be enhanced by dopiag with fuUerenes (21). 

Common conductive polymers are poly acetylene, polyphenylene, poly-(phenylene sulfide), polypyrrole, and polyvinylcarba2ole (123) (see Electrically conductive polymers). A static-dissipative polymer based on a polyether copolymer has been aimounced (124). In general, electroconductive polymers have proven to be expensive and difficult to process. In most cases they are blended with another polymer to improve the processibiUty. Conductive polymers have met with limited commercial success. 

Although polyacetylene has served as an excellent prototype for understanding the chemistry and physics of electrical conductivity in organic polymers, its instabiUty in both the neutral and doped forms precludes any useful appHcation. In contrast to poly acetylene, both polyaniline and polypyrrole are significantly more stable as electrical conductors. When addressing polymer stabiUty it is necessary to know the environmental conditions to which it will be exposed these conditions can vary quite widely. For example, many of the electrode appHcations require long-term chemical and electrochemical stabihty at room temperature while the polymer is immersed in electrolyte. Aerospace appHcations, on the other hand, can have quite severe stabiHty restrictions with testing carried out at elevated temperatures and humidities. 

Figure 8.12. A conjugated chain in poly(acetylene). (a) changes to (b) when a charge passes along the backbone of the molecule, (c) and (d) show chains of poly(acetylene) and poly(para phenylene) respectively, each containing solitons (after Windle 1996).

One of the earliest observations of high eonductivity in sueh a material was in a form of poly(acetylene) by a Japanese team (Shirakawa and Ikeda 1971). Perhaps one should date the pursuit of semieondueting polymer deviees from that experiment. It soon became clear that conjugated polymers had a severe drawback most of them are extremely stable against potential solvents they cannot be forced... 

By 1988, a number of devices such as a MOSFET transistor had been developed by the use of poly(acetylene) (Burroughes et al. 1988), but further advances in the following decade led to field-effect transistors and, most notably, to the exploitation of electroluminescence in polymer devices, mentioned in Friend s 1994 survey but much more fully described in a later, particularly clear paper (Friend et al. 1999). The polymeric light-emitting diodes (LEDs) described here consist in essence of a polymer film between two electrodes, one of them transparent, with careful control of the interfaces between polymer and electrodes (which are coated with appropriate films). PPV is the polymer of choice. 

In this contribution, we discussed effects of disorder on the electronic properties of quasi-one-dimensional Peierls systems, like the conjugated polymer fraus-poly-acetylene. Since polymer materials generally are rather disordered and the effect of disorder on any quasi-one-dimensional system is strong, a proper description of these materials requires consideration of such effects. 

This chapter is organized as follows the experimental and theoretical techniques are presented briefly in Sections 5.2 and 5.3. In Section 5.4 some materials aspects and concepts arc introduced, where /ro/z.v-poly acetylene is used as an illustrative example. A series of illustrative examples on surfaces and interfaces arc... 

Masuda, T. and Higashimura, T. Poly acetylenes with Substituents Their Synthesis and Properties. Vol. 81, pp. 121 — 166. 

Here we introduce a personal point of view about the interactions between conducting polymers and electrochemistry their synthesis, electrochemical properties, and electrochemical applications. Conducting polymers are new materials that were developed in the late 1970s as intrinsically electronic conductors at the molecular level. Ideal monodimensional chains of poly acetylene, polypyrrole, polythiophene, etc. can be seen in Fig. 1. One of the most fascinating aspects of these polymeric... 

Most conducting polymers, such as doped poly(acetylene), poly(p-pheny-lene), and poly(/ -phenylene sulfide), are not stable in air. Their electrical conductivity degrades rapidly, apparently due to reaction with oxygen and/or water. Poly(pyrrole) by contrast appears to be stable in the doped conductive state. 

In this contribution, in order to illustrate tlie importance of shake-up bands for extended systems, we simulate and compare on correlated grounds the ionization spectra of polyethylene and poly acetylene, the most simplest systems one can consider to represent insulating or semi-conducting polymers. Conclusions for the infinite stereoregular chains are drawn by exU apolation of the trends observed with the first terms of the related n-alkane or acene series, CnH2n+2 and CnHn+2. respectively, with n=2, 4, 6 and 8. Our simulations are also compared to X-ray photoionization spectra (7) recorded on gas phase samples of ethylene, butadiene and hexatriene, which provide a clear experimental manisfestation of the construction of correlation bands (8-12). 

Figure 13 shows the irreversible conversion of a nonconjugated poly (p-phenylene pentadienylene) to a lithiun-doped conjugated derivative which has a semiconducting level of conductivity (0.1 to 1.0 S/cm) (29). Obviously, the neutral conjugated derivative of poly (p-phenylene pentadienylene) can then be reversibly generated from the n-type doped material by electrochemical undoping or by p-type compensation. A very similar synthetic method for the conversion of poly(acetylene-co-1,3-butadiene) to polyacetylene has been reported (30), Figure 14. This synthesis of polyacetylene from a nonconjugated precursor polymer containing isolated CH2 units in an otherwise conjugated chain is to be contrasted with the early approach of Marvel et al (6) in which an all-sp3 carbon chain was employed.

Synthesis of polyacetylene from poly(acetylene-co-1,3-butadiene). 

Poly-(acetylene)s are widely used in different fields, such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDS), solar cells, and lasers.135 Synthesis... 

The one-dimensional chain of hydrogen atoms is merely a model. Flowever, compounds do exist to which the same kind of considerations are applicable and have been confirmed experimentally. These include polyene chains such as poly acetylene. The p orbitals of the C atoms take the place of the lx functions of the H atoms they form one bonding and one antibonding n band. Due to the Peierls distortion the polyacetylene chain is only stable with alternate short and long C-C bonds, that is, in the sense of the valence bond formula with alternate single and double bonds ... 

Electronically conducting polymers. The world-wide interest in electronically conducting polymers has been triggered in 1977/8, when Heeger, MacDiarmid, Shirakawa, and others have studied the oxidation and reduction reactions of poly acetylene,... 

The electronic band structure of a neutral polyacetylene is characterized by an empty band gap, like in other intrinsic semiconductors. Defect sites (solitons, polarons, bipolarons) can be regarded as electronic states within the band gap. The conduction in low-doped poly acetylene is attributed mainly to the transport of solitons within and between chains, as described by the intersoliton-hopping model (IHM) . Polarons and bipolarons are important charge carriers at higher doping levels and with polymers other than polyacetylene. 

Table 5.3 Examples of electronically conducting polymers, y is the level of electrochemical doping and k is the maximum electrical conductivity. Except for poly acetylene and polyparaphenylene, only p-doping is considered... 

Chien, J, C. W., Poly acetylene Chemistry, Physics and Materials Science, Academic Press, New York, 1984. 

Feast, W. J. et al J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Comm., 1985, 202-203 The second stage of an improved synthesis of poly(acetylene), which involves disproportionation of a soluble polymer by heating a thin film at 75°C to give 1,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene and poly(acetylene), must not be done in bulk because the reaction then becomes explosive. The earlier synthesis by direct polymerisation of acetylene was considerably more dangerous... 

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