ISOTHERMAL CIS-TRANS ISOMERIZATION BEHAVIOR OF POLYACETYLENE FILMS

Isothermal cis-trans isomerization behavior was studied by differential scanning calorimetry for conventional Shirakawa polyacetylene (S-PA) film and highly stretchable polyacetylene (hs-x) films synthesized using catalysts aged at high temperature. The rate of isomerization is slower for S-PA than for hs-x. Kinetic results of isomerization are analyzed by a stretched exponential function with exponent n (0 < n < 1), which is different from the previously assumed single exponential function. An activation energy of 31 kcal/mol was obtained for all the samples. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.