Polyacetylene films prepared by intrinsic non-solvent polymerization method - mechanical properties and electrical conductivities

We have synthesized highly stretchable and highly conducting polyacetylene films by “Intrinsic Non-Solvent (INS)” polymerization method and investigated mechanical and electrical properties of the films, in order to examine the feasibility of the INS method as an advanced solvent-free polymerization method. Mechanical strengths of the films are 40 GPa in Youngʹs modulus and 2100 MPa in tensile strength. The result implies that the present films are more easily elongated but less breakable than the films prepared by the solvent evacuation (SE) method, since the latter films show 100 GPa and 900 MPa in Youngʹs modulus and tensile strength, respectively. Electrical conductivities of iodine-doped stretched films by the INS method are 2.2 ∼ 4.3 × 104 S/cm. As result, it can be remarked that the INS method produces high quality polyacetylene films whose mechanical and electrical properties are comparable and/or superior to those by the SE method.