Evaporate electrodes of a given thickness (e.g. 50 nm of Au) through a shadow mask, deposit polymer film to cover the electrodes (e.g. spin-coating) and measure the current flowing through the channel. From the obtained I-Vs you will be able to calculate the conductivity. Ideally, have few sets of electrodes with different channel lenghts (e.g. 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 um) to compare your results.
Conductivity of polymers can be measured using two terminal measurements after depositing metallic contact. However, a few prequations are needed for the measurement of high resistance which is quite likely in polymers. Sample should be mounted in a metallic sample holder with a vacuum inside for electromagnetic shielding. High impedance electrometer should be used to measure current at a particular voltage. Shielded connection should be used. Make measurement in ohmic range to calculate resistance and finally conductivity.
Conductovity of the polymer membrane could be measure by impedance spectroscopy. It has to be embossed within two electrodes and scan as a function of frequency.. from impednace spectra along with many other parameters, eg. dielectric constant, resistance (bulk and interfacial).. conductivuty can be studied.
Impedance spectroscopy gives a.c. conductivity which may or may not be same as d.c. conductivity depending upon the status of dielectric loss. If dielectric loss is zero then only a.c. measurement will give d. c. conductivity. In the presence of dielectric loss measured conductivity at a particular frequency may be higher than d. c. conductivity.
The simplest method to measure the conductivity of the polymer is using '4-point probe system' if you have one. That will give you the resistance in the sheet. Then you can use the resistance-conductivity formula to calculate conductivity. Resistance is inverse of conductance and you will need film thickness value as well to find out conductivity.
I tried using four probe but i could not obtain readings for my sample. Could it be I am handling the instrument incorrectly. How do I find the correct handling procedure?
Ajit Pandey Are you using the fixed pin 4-point probe or movable ones? If you are using a fixed one then make sure that your equipment can measure very high resistances e.g. conductivity values as low as 10^-14 or so. You can check one of my recent articles 'Conductive and transparent submicron lens array fabrication (DOI: Article Conductive and transparent submicron polymer lens array fabr...