Conducting polymers commercial applications

The presence of polymer, solvent, and ionic components in conducting polymers reminds one of the composition of the materials chosen by nature to produce muscles, neurons, and skin in living creatures. We will describe here some devices ready for commercial applications, such as artificial muscles, smart windows, or smart membranes other industrial products such as polymeric batteries or smart mirrors and processes and devices under development, such as biocompatible nervous system interfaces, smart membranes, and electron-ion transducers, all of them based on the electrochemical behavior of electrodes that are three dimensional at the molecular level. During the discussion we will emphasize the analogies between these electrochemical systems and analogous biological systems. Our aim is to introduce an electrochemistry for conducting polymers, and by extension, for any electrodic process where the structure of the electrode is taken into account. 

Some of the most important applications for conducting polymers which might show at least some commercial viability in the near future are listed in Table 3. The list is by no means complete, and is growing all the time. However, one should not expect fundamental progress in practical applications until basic research on conducting polymers moves beyond the stage of trial and error, and develops concepts to obtain quantitative information about molecular structures and properties, on the one hand, and the resultant material properties on the other hand. 

Other Applications. Thus far the phosphazene fluoroelastomers (PNF) and aryloxyphosphazene elastomers (APN) have moved to the commercial stage. In addition to elastomers, phosphazenes are being investigated as fluids, resins and plastics. Other areas which hold promise include fire resistant paints (55), fiber blends and additives, agrichemicals and herbicides, drug release agents and electrically conducting polymers (6). 

Photovoltaic (PV) cells, 23 32-53. See also Photovoltaic materials commercial history of, 23 49—51 conducting polymer applications, 7 541 polymethine dyes in, 20 516—517 selenium, 22 100, 103 spectrum and band gap of, 23 37-39 structure of, 22 220-221 third generation, 23 44 workings of, 23 32-37 Photovoltaic detectors, 19 133, 138 Photovoltaic detectors/arrays/focal planes, 19 163-164... 

Polyacetylene has good inert atmospheric thermal stability but oxidizes easily in the presence of air. The doped samples are even more susceptible to air. Polyacetylene films have a lustrous, silvery appearance and some flexibility. Other polymers have been found to be conductive. These include poly(p-phenylene) prepared by the Freidel-Crafts polymerization of benzene, polythiophene and derivatives, PPV, polypyrrole, and polyaniline. The first polymers commercialized as conductive polymers were polypyrrole and polythiophene because of their greater stability to air and the ability to directly produce these polymers in a doped form. While their conductivities (often on the order of 10" S/m) are lower than that of polyacetylene, this is sufficient for many applications. 

The outlook for conductive polymers is similar to that for other new materials discussed in this chapter. Researchers must still solve a number of technical problems before the products are likely to find significant commercial applications. Conductive polymers, for example, tend to develop large amounts of static electricity, which can interfere with the products in which they are used. This problem must be solved if wide applications of the material are to occur. Still, the market for conductive polymers is promising, with experts predicting growth rates of about 5 percent per year over the next decade. As more types of conductive polymers become available and as researchers solve the technical problems associated with them, consumers are more likely to encounter these exciting substances in the products they use in their daily lives. 

Solvent-free polymer-electrolyte-based batteries are still developmental products. A great deal has been learned about the mechanisms of ion conductivity in polymers since the discovery of the phenomenon by Feuillade et al. in 1973 [41], and numerous books have been written on the subject. In most cases, mobility of the polymer backbone is required to facilitate cation transport. The polymer, acting as the solvent, is locally free to undergo thermal vibrational and translational motion. Associated cations are dependent on these backbone fluctuations to permit their diffusion down concentration and electrochemical gradients. The necessity of polymer backbone mobility implies that noncrystalline, i.e., amorphous, polymers will afford the most highly conductive media. Crystalline polymers studied to date cannot support ion fluxes adequate for commercial applications. Unfortunately, even the fluxes sustainable by amorphous polymers discovered to date are of marginal value at room temperature. Neat polymer electrolytes, such as those based on poly(ethyleneoxide) (PEO), are only capable of providing viable current densities at elevated temperatures, e.g., >60°C. 

Despite much effort, crystalline complexes have found no practical application to date in the commercial marketplace. Much more promise exists for devices based on conducting polymers. 

---