| Abstract: | Poly(N-vinylcarbazole), (PNVC), was prepared, fractionated by gel permeation chromatography, and then characterized by viscometry and vapour pressure osmometry. The fractionated PNVC species with relatively narrow molecular weight distributions were successfully used to measure both their electrical dark-conductivity and photoconductivity using a surface type cell in high vacuum (ca. 10?7 mm Hg) at room temperature. A molecular weight dependent photoconductivity was found for the fractionated PNVCs with weight average molecular weights in the range of 1,2·103 to 2,4·105. This observation is in contradiction to Epping's results who has found a molecular weight independent photoconductivity in the molecular weight range of 3·105 to 7·106. Our molecular weight dependence may be well understood in terms of the interrupted overlap of the π-electrons of adjacent carbazolyl groups at the terminal parts of the polymer chains, this effect being all the more stronger the smaller the molecular weight is. |
