Continuum charge delocalization

Most polymers (typified by polystyrene and polyethylene) are electrically insulating and have conductivities doped with iodine to become electrically conducting (values have now been reported up to olO Scm ) represented a pivotal discovery in polymer science that ultimately resulted in the award of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000 [4]. The study of electrically conducting polymers is now well advanced and two extremes in the continuum of transport mechanisms exist. If the charge carriers are present in delocalized orbitals that form a band structure along the polymer backbone, they conduct by a delocalization mechanism. In contrast, isolated groups in a polymer can function as acceptors or donors of electrons and can permit... 

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