Photosensitization of PVC dehydrochlorination by hydroquinone for improved optical and electrical properties

Hydroquinone (HQ) is incorporated into the PVC films containing methyl violet or polyaniline (emeraldine base) for sensitizing the UV induced optical or electrical changes, respectively. It is observed that introduction of a small amount (less than 10% by weight) of HQ not only brings the dehydrochlorination onset down to 310 nm but also sensitizes the process by more than one order of magnitude as well as leading to strong polyene formation. UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy is used to characterize the changes and investigate the mechanism. Accordingly, it is postulated that this HQ assisted photo-dehydrochlorination involves predominantly the formation of an excited triplet via an efficient intersystem crossing in HQ followed by abstraction of hydrogen from the poly(vinyl chloride) to initiate a zipping reaction in the PVC matrix.