Order and disorder in Durham polyacetylene

The Durham route to polyacetylene provides, for the first time, the possibility of controlling the crystalline structure of this fascinating material. This control will enable us to probe the role of the redox doping and relative spatial co-ordinates of the chains in determining electrical conductivity. Before this can be accomplished it is necessary to understand the nature of the order within the variety of materials which can now be produced. Material produced from quiescent films can have a range of structures from largely amorphous (inasmuch as a structure composed of rigid rods can exhibit disorder) to slightly crystalline. By stretching the precursor film during transformation highly oriented, crystalline polyacetylene can be produced. This offers a range of structures and should enable the separation of inter- and intra-chain electronic effects for the first time.