Electrical Conductivity of Ferric Chloride-Doped Poly(Acrylic Acid-Divinylbenzene)

Abstract

Polyacrylic acid divinylbenzene was doped with ferric chloride in non-aqueous medium and the effect of concentration of dopant salt on the electrical conductivity of polyacrylic acid divinylbenzene was investigated. The electrical conductivity of pure and doped polymer containing various percentages of iron was measured as a function of temperature (298–383 K) and applied voltage. A linear relationship of current for the entire range of applied voltage (50–500 V) at ambient temperatures suggest ohmic conduction of charge carriers. The electrical conductivity of 1.04, 1.46 and 2.85% ferric-polyacrylatedivinylbenzene at 333 K is 1.2 × 10−12, 4.7 × 10−12 and 4.1 × 10−10 mho/cm, respectively. The increase in conductivity is facilitated by complex formation between carboxylic pendent groups of polymer matrix and ferric ions. Activation energies (−0.527 to −0.436 eV) are lower in the temperature range 298 ≤ T ≤ 353 K but in the higher temperature region 353 ≤ T ≤ 383 K the values tend to increase (0.842 to 1.585 eV).