EFFECT OF ALUMINUM CHLORIDE ON THE FORMATION OF A POLYCONJUGATED BOND SYSTEM IN THE INITIAL STAGE OF POLYVINYL ALCOHOL THERMAL DECOMPOSITION
Fine-structure bands have been located in electronic absorption spectra of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films thermally decomposed in air at temperatures from 80 to 150 ° C. The doping of the PVA film with aluminum chloride (thermolysis catalyst) was found both to enhance the thermal decomposition degree and to reduce the formation temperature of poly-π-conjugated chains, with no effect on the spectral positions of the absorption bands of polyene units. Based on the analysis of long-wavelength edge of the electronic spectra for the heat-treated PVA films, the values of the band gap were determined to be in the range of 1.65–1.78 eV.