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

Summary form only given. We have synthesized highly stretchable and highly conducting polyacetylene films by Intrinsic Non-Solvent (INS) polymerization method and investigated the mechanical and electrical properties of the films, in order to examine the feasibility of the INS method as an advanced solvent-free polymerization method. The mechanical strengths of the films are 40 GPa in Young´s modulus and 2.1 GPa in tensile strength. The electrical conductivities upon iodine doping are 2.2 - 4.3 x 10/sub 4/ S/cm, which are enhanced by 6 - 9 fold mechanical stretching. The results imply that the present films are more easily stretchable but less breakable than the films prepared by the solvent evacuation method (Young´s modulus of 100 GPa and tensile strength of 0.9 GPa), leading to a remark that the INS method produces high quality polyacetylene films whose, mechanical and electrical properties are comparable and/or superior to those by the solvent evacuation method.