Polymer composites of charge-transfer materials-I phenothiazine-iodine (2:3) in poly(vinylchloride)

Polymer composites of phenothiazine-iodine (2:3 molar ratio) charge-transfer complex (CTC) with poly(vinyl-chloride) have been prepared in different weight ratios and characterized by the spectral, thermal and electrical methods. The mechanical and structural (optical microphotographs and XRD) properties have been studied and compared with the properties of the charge-transfer complexes. Electrical properties (both de and ac) have been measured. The polymer composites exhibit semiconducting behaviour having the thermal activation energies in the range of 0.2 eV to 0.8 eV. The current-voltage characteristics, frequency dependence of conductivity of these composites has been determined. Very low percolation threshold (4%wt.CTC) has been found indicating that these polymer composites could be better alternative to pure charge-transfer complexes with improved mechanical properties.