PREPARATION AND SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF PLASMA-POLYMERIZED FURAN AND LEMONGRASS OIL THIN-FILMS

A Scheme to prepare plasma polymerised thin films from organic materia ls and to dope them with iodine has been taken up. Initial investigati ons in the case of lemon grass oil and furan show that the polymer fil ms are inert, stable and good insulators. Comparative study of the IR spectra of the monomer and polymer furan gives information regarding t he structure of polymer units. When polymerisation is carried out in t he presence of iodine vapour, the electrical conductivity of the films changes considerably. In agreement with this, UV-VIS-NIR spectra give evidence for reduction in the energy gap between valence and conducti on bands.