Highly conducting polyacetylene

“New”-(CH) x and “ARA” (i.e. Additional Reducing Agent)-(CH)x have been synthesized at room temperature. “New”-(CH)x is formed by polymerizing acetylene on flat polymeric or glass substrates using an AlEt3/Ti (n-BuO)4 catalyst in silicone oil which has previously been heat-treated. Additional reducing agents may be added to the catalyst after its thermal treatment to produce “ARA”-(CH)x. The stretch-oriented “New”-(CH)x polymerized on glass and “ARA”-(CH)x polymerized on polyethylene can be p-doped with I2/CCl4 to give conductivities of ∼50,000 and ∼75,000 S/cm respectively. Optical absorption, photoinduced infrared absorption, magnetic susceptibility and conductivity studies on selected forms of the above doped and undoped types of (CH)x are discussed. The electronic structure of highly conducting “New”-and “ARA”-(CH)x is observed to be essentially identical to that of conventional Shirakawa-(CH)x.