Temperature and frequency dependence of microwave conductivity of isotropic reticulate doped polymers

Abstract

Frequency dependence of conductivity for reticulate doped systems is observed at room temperature only around 1 GHz and even so it is relatively weak. The temperature dependence of conductivity is characteristic of the CT complex used and not of the polymer matrix. For the system containing TTF-TCNQ, for which the d.c. conductivity has a maximum at c. 230 K (i.e. metal-like behaviour at higher temperatures), this maximum becomes more pronounced and shifts towards lower temperatures with increasing frequency in the GHz range. The temperature dependence of the microwave conductivity is weaker than that of the d.c. conductivity. Such behaviour can be described by a modified Maxwell-Wagner model if an appropriate shape factor for the conducting inclusions is introduced, and if a relatively high conductivity of the continuous phase is assumed. We conclude that charge-carrier transport in reticulate doped polymers is not controlled by insulating barriers. The disorder within microcrystals plays a fundamental role, while the CT complex crystalline network is continuous in spite of very low concentration.