RAMAN AND IR SPECTROSCOPY OF ELECTROCHEMICALLY OBTAINED CONDUCTING AND NONCONDUCTING POLY(N-VINYLCARBAZOLE)

The well resolved Raman spectra of electrochemically synthesized condu cting and non-conducting poly(N-vinylcarbazole) were obtained. The Ram an and i.r. spectra revealed that the conducting polymer had a 3,3'-di carbazyl structure formed by dimerization at the 3,6 position and an a ppropriate mechanism was proposed. The conducting polymer was also obt ained by electrolysis of the non-conducting polymer dissolved in dichl oromethane. The conducting polymer obtained by this method was found t o have a similar structure to that obtained by direct electrolysis of the monomer. The polymerization was monitored by the use of a speciall y designed cell, with in situ Raman spectra being taken from the elect rode surface at different intervals. These spectra showed that there w ere no significant structural changes occurring in the conducting poly mer during the polymerization process. In addition, the Raman image of the conducting polymer was taken by using the intense band which was located at 1600 cm-1.