Electrical conduction in pure and iodine‐doped polyvinyl acetate thick films

Abstract

The electrical conductivity (σ) of polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) films as a function of the iodine (I2) concentration, temperature (T), and voltage (U) is studied and an increase of about four orders of magnitude in σ is observed due to the doping of I2 in PVAc at room temperature. For pure PVAc, σ increases exponentially with T, whereas in the case of PVAc: I2 films, σ first increases with T, reaches a maximum and then decreases and the maxima in σ vs. T curves, shift towards lower temperatures with the increase in I2 concentration. It appears from the I—U—T characteristics of pure and iodine doped PVAc films that the Poole‐Frenkel effect is the dominant charge transfer mechanism. On doping I2 in PVAc, an optical absorption band peaking at ≈ 370 nm, is observed and is attributed to charge transfer complexes. Copyright © 1977 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA