Mossbauer study of polythiophene and its derivatives

Summary form only given. Polythiophene and its derivatives are highly conducting polymers when doped with appropriate chemical species such as iodine or FeCl/sub 3/. We have investigated the chemical structure of the dopants in these polymers using / sup 129/I and /sup 57/Fe, which are Mossbauer nuclei of good resolution. It has been found that the iodine in these polymers exists as linear forms of triiodide and pentaiodide anions and that the abundance ratio of triiodide decreases with increasing of the doping level. Since the polymers were doped with the iodine of neutral molecules, these anions are created by electron transfer between the polymers and the dopants. Our experimental results are consistent with the proposed mechanism of the electric conductivity which is due to migration of polarons on the polymer chains.