A new organic semiconducting polymer from Cu2+ chelate of poly(vinyl alcohol)and iodine

A new, easily processed, organic semiconductor was prepared from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The Cu²⁺ chelate of PVA exhibited excellent surface resistivity around 10³ Ω cm^?2 when modified with iodine. Favorable conditions for preparing the chelate effective for the conduction were investigated. The resistivity was significantly affected by the amounts of cupric salts and iodine, satisfactory results being given by more than 15 wt% of cupric salts and about 4 wt% of iodine. Effects of molecular weight of PVA and the chelate structure were also studied.