Abstract
Polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN), without and in the presence of CuCl2, CoCl2, and NiCl2, formed polyacrylonitrile homopolymer (PAN) and polymer complexes of AN-CuCl2, AN-CoCl2 and AN-NiCl2, respectively. These polymer complexes were characterized using spectroscopic techniques. Electrical conductivity and cyclic voltammetry on untreated and heat treated polymers, carried out at different temperatures, showed that the conductivity increased with temperature, presumably due to conjugation and cyclization during heat treatment.