Electronic conduction in polymers. V. Aromatic semiconducting polymers

Abstract

Electronically conducting polymers have been prepared by treating hexa- chlorobenzene with sodium at 300°, using sodium chloride as a diluent. The products, presumably polybenzenes, have resistivities of 0.2-25 ohm cm depending on the amount of sodium used; less crosslinked polymers similarly prepared from 1,2,4-tri-chlorobenzene have resistivities some thousand times greater. It has been confirmed that the reaction of sulphur with anthracene at 400° yields conducting polymers whose resistivity decreases with increasing sulphur content. A product containing 54% sulphur had a resistivity of 330 ohm cm. The data presented show that good conductors can be obtained without the presence of hetero atoms within the aromatic network of the macromolecules.