Abstract
Conjugated polymers prepared by the thermal transformation of a precursor polymer can be produced as highly oriented films if the transformation reaction is carried out in a stress field. Investigation of the anisotropic properties of such films has given much information on the microscopic electronic processes which determine the behavior of these polymers. The authors report here on the structural characterisation of oriented poly(phenylenevinylene) (PPV) and Durham-route polyacetylene ((CH) sub(x)) using x-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy.