Applications of Conducting Polymers

CP nanocomposites exhibit multifunctional and unique properties. Therefore, many CP nanocomposites are used in many fields, such as nanoelectronic devices, chemical or biological sensors, catalysis or electrocatalysis, energy, ultracapacitors, ER fluids, and biomedicine.  

Conjugated polymers were generally unstable in air and it was not easy to prepare films. Proper chemical modifications succeeded to produce stable materials, which can be processed from solution or melt, via a conversion of short-chain precursors. 

To provide a brief introduction to this class of polymer materials, the elementary optical excitations, electroluminescence, and conduction properties (Fig. 3.16) and magnetism of doped samples should be considered. 

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J. Erommer, The Potentialfor Applications of Conducting Polymers, 43rd Annual Technical Conference Proceedings, Society of Plastics Engineers, Brookfield, Corm., 1985. 

We hope to show here that the electrochemical properties and applications of conducting polymers considered as dry materials represent poor and limiting electrochemical properties for those materials considered as three-dimensional structures. 

Both initiation and polymerization kinetics obtained from Tafel slopes (Fig. 5) are related to the formation of very thin films, which are not useful for most applications of conducting polymers. A similar restriction can be attributed to the combination of electrochemical and gravimet-... 

This reverse electrochemical control of the gel composition and volume is the basis for the singular electrochemical properties and the concomitant applications of conducting polymers. Reactions and properties based on polypyrrole films can be summarized as shown in Table 5 and below ... 

One of the major potential applications of conducting polymers is as mediators or catalysts for electrochemical sensors and electrosynthesis. 

However, despite this lack of a basic understanding of the electrochemistry of these materials, much progress has been made in characterizing polymerization mechanisms, degradation processes, transport properties, and the mediation of the electrochemistry of species in solution. These advances have facilitated the development of numerous applications of conducting polymers, and so it can be anticipated that interest in their electrochemistry will remain high. 

The application of conducting polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole, and polythiophene for immobilizing capture antibodies in immunoassay systems is widespread. 

M. Trojanowicz, Application of conducting polymers in chemical analysis. Microchim. Acta 143, 75-91 (2003). 

Polyacetylene attracts constant attention as an excellent simple model of the polyconjugated polymer on which the main optical and electrical properties can be verified. The possibility of achieving metallic conductivities by doping opens real perspectives of practical application of conducting polymers. The complication is the strong interaction with oxygen. The reproducibility of results strongly depends on the synthesis and measurement conditions. 

Many of the applications of conductive polymers utilize their unique properties and advantages over other material systems, for example low density and controllable electrical properties. The following examples demonstrate the versatility of conducting polymers in technology. 

In spite of the obvious importance of polymer stability in any potential applications of conducting polymers, there have been remarkably few systematic studies of degradation of polymers other than polyacetylene. Partly this may be due to an understandable reluctance of those involved in research on these materials to find that they are not stable and partly it is due to the difficulty of preparing samples in appropriate film forms for study. Another problem of discussing stability in conducting polymers is that there is no absolute standard for a stable material. For some applications an... 

If one asks what are the applications of conducting polymers, the short answer is none . At the present time (July 1988), the most active field of development is in batteries. There have also been large programmes aimed at developing photovoltaic cells, chemical sensors, semiconductor devices and optical switches. A host of small groups have also investigated the feasibility of various applications. A complete survey is also very difficult because the tendency is to publish completed but unsuccessful studies. 

M. Gerard, A. Chaubey and B.D. Malholtra, Application of conducting polymers to biosensors, Biosens. Bioelectron, 17 (2002) 345-359. 

Recent application of conducting polymers for electrochemical capacitors has been reviewed. The ionically conducting polymers have the potential to replace wet-type capacitors by dry-type ones. Especially important are the gel electrolyte systems whose ionic conductivity is high, and thus high capacitance can be obtained with them in EDLC. We believe that the combination of high surface area... 

Pratt C, "Applications of Conducting Polymers", http //homepage.ntlworld.com/colin.pratt/applcp.htm. 

Table 2 Representative Proposed Applications of Conducting Polymers...

Table 3 Schematic Presentation of the Main Applications of Conducting Polymers and Fundamental Associated Problems Versus Properties and Charge Injection Modes...

W. R. Salaneck, D. T. Clark and E. J. Saumelsen, Science and application of Conducting Polymers, Adam Hilger, Bristol, 1991. 

The discussion is limited to the reactions of heteroaromatic molecules, nonaromatic heterocycles are discussed elsewhere in this book in accordance with the appropriate heteroatom-containing functionality. The most important electron-transfer phenomena involving heteroaromatics are to be found on the one hand in biochemistry, where some heterocycles have a key role in metabolism, and on the other in material science, the applications of conductive polymers derived from... 

Ambrosi, A., Morrin, A., Smyth, M. R., and Killard, A. J. (2008). The application of conducting polymer nanoparticle electrodes to the sensing of ascorbic acid. Anal. Chirn. Acta 609,... 

Other applications of conductive polymers in chemical and biological sensors include a building of electrical connection between different elements of these devices6 or electrical connection and mediators of electron transfer between enzyme and electrode26,27 or between electrocatalytically active functional groups or incorporated nanoparticles and electrode,28 as a filter,29 as matrix for immobilization of enzymes or even as a combination of many of these functions.26 The requirements for materials for these applications are very specific and will not be analyzed here. 

The next most obvious applications of conducting polymers utilize their conductivity and electroactivity. Conducting polymers such as polypyrrole are readily oxidized and reduced, according to the reaction in Figure 1.5, in cases where the counterion is able to freely leave the CEP matrix and is immobilized within the CEP matrix. 

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