Commensurability effects and modulated structures in polyanilines

Abstract

We study a model for the protonated polyanilines in which the polarizability of the extended π electrons on the polymer promotes the ordering of the protonated sites in a series of commensurate composition waves on the polymer. The model predicts a succession of first-order transitions between locked commensurate structures for the protonated system, with the period of the structure determined by the electronic band filling. Several implications for the physical properties of the protonated polyanilines are suggested.