Abstract
In this investigation we have prepared a series of copolymers consisting of p-phenylene vinylene and disubstituted phenylene vinylene units. The substituents were electron-donating moieties such as methoxy, ethoxy and n-butoxy groups. The copoly(phenylene vinylene)s were doped with I//2 and their electronic conductivities were examined to study the effect of ionization potential lowering moieties in Poly(p-phenylene vinylene) PPV chains. Results demonstrate that even slightly modified PPV copolymers containing a low ionization potential moiety can be doped with I//2 to yield highly conducting materials. It is postulated that the structural irregularities introduced by copolymerization permit more ready access of I//2 to the PPV backbone; I//2 treatment of totally eliminated PPV homopolymer does not increase the conductivity of the latter to metallic levels.