Semiconductors Semicrystalline polymers

Some transitions that are only known for macromolecules, however, will not be mentioned at all since they are covered elsewhere in this Encyclopedia (see, eg. Gel Point). Also we shall not be concerned here with the transformations from the molten state to the solid state of polymeric materials, since this is the subject of separate treatments (see Crystallization Kinetics Glass Transition Viscoelasticity). Unlike other materials, polymers in the solid state rarely reach full thermal equilibrium. Of course, all amorphous materials can be considered as frozen fluids (see Glass Transition) Rather perfect crystals exist for metals, oxides, semiconductors etc, whereas polymers typically are semicrystalline, where amorphous regions alternate with crystalline lamellae, and the detailed structure and properties are history-dependent (see Semicrystalline Polymers). Such out-of-equilibrium aspects are out of the scope of the present article, which rather emphasizes general facts of the statistical thermodynamics (qv) of phase transitions and their applications to polymers in fluid phases. 

The same type of methodology was also used to prepare ferrocene-containing arylidene polyesters 122 in good yields from dicarboxyl ferrocenes and organic diols. These materials were characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, viscometry, and WAXS. The polymers were found to be semicrystalline but were soluble in polar organic solvents. Conductivity studies showed an n-type semiconductor behavior (cr = 3 x 10 Scm at room temperature) that followed a one-term Arrhenius-type equation with increasing conductivity over the range 25-220 °G. 

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