Synthesis and characterization of chiral polyacetylene films

Polyacetylene, (CH)_x, the conductive polymer, continues to be a subject of intense research due to its unique degenerate π-conjugated structure and soliton excitations. Here we report recent advances in the synthesis, characterization, and electronic behavior of high-quality chiral polyacetylene films. We have employed a myriad of characterization methods including absorption, circular dichroism (CD), resonant Raman scattering, circularly polarized Raman scattering (CP-RS), Photo-induced absorption, Electro-absorption spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. We found that ‘as prepared’ (CH)_x is in fact racemic that contains both right- and left-handed fibrils. More importantly, chiral (CH)_x can be grown to be mostly left or right-handed fibrils that show CD of the order of 100 millidegrees and CP-RS of few %.