Abstract
Transparent electrically conductive composite films were obtained via vapor phase polymerization of pyrrole into a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) matrix containing FeCl3. The effects of water and of organic solvents on polymerization have been investigated (Fig.2, Fig.3). It has been found that the conductance of films increases in the presence of both water vapor and of good solvents or swelling agents for PVC (Fig.3). The conductivity of the films rises with reaction time and the increase rate in conductance is higher with higher FeCl3 concentration (Fig.1). The production of HCl was monitored by two methods, namely by precipitation of AgCl in an aqueous solution of silvernitrate, and by the increase in conductance of an aliquot of distilled water which has been placed into the reaction chamber (Fig.7). On the basis of our experimental results, we propose a reaction mechanism (Fig.9) which explains the observed increase of conductance with time (Fig.8). A universal kinetic formula has been derived which relates the increase of electrical conductance with other parameters characterizing the boundary conditions of the polymerization.
