Electronic and Ionic Conductivity in Polyiodine Complexes of Benzophenones and Coumarin

Abstract

Complexes of benzophenone, benzophenone derivatives, or coumarin with alkali or ammonium iodides and iodine have been prepared and their conductivities studied. The organic sub-lattices involve six- or four-coordinate cation clathrated by the carbonyl compounds. The iodine sub-lattices consist of I_n chains in which I₃ ⁻ and I₅ ⁻ ions can be identified. AC (1 KHz) conductivities at room temperature vary from 10⁻¹ to 10⁻⁶ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹, and are of a mixed ionic and electronic type. The most likely transport mechanism involves hopping processes in the polyiodine sub-lattice.