Electronic structure of polyacrylonitrile

The results of a study of the electronic structure of polyacrylonitrile are reported. The measured valence electron energy distribution, obtained by both ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are compared with the results of model valence effective Hamiltonian calculations. The role of chain conformation and interchain dipole-dipole interactions among the -CN groups are discussed.