Optical studies on poly(paraphenylene) thin film prepared by electroreduction

The results of in situ spectroelectrochemical experiments on thin transparent films of poly( para phenylene) are presented in both oxidation and reduction domains. For reduction, the observed absorptions in the infrared and visible ranges account well for the theoretical predictions. In oxidation, even for a dilute doping level, our data lead to the conclusion that bipolarons are the only gap states involved in the process. Comparisons are established with other published data and theoretical calculations.