Conductive polymers commercial production

What are the commercial possibilities for conductive polymer-based products. ... 

Though several conductive polymer-based products are available commercially, many possibilities exist and are yet to come to market The main disadvantages for the commerdalization of these conductive polymer-based products are their ill-defined and nonoptimized properties. At present the traditionally used chromium-or lead-based products are losing market share due to public concerns over their adverse effects on the environment and to their potential carcinogenic properties. 

Pure acrylonitrile boils at 78°. Acrylonitrile vapour is highly toxic it should therefore be handled with due caution and all operations with it should be conducted in a fume cupboard provided with an efficient draught. Acrylonitrile forms an azeotropic mixture with water, b.p. 70-5° (12-5 per cent, water). The commercial product may contain tte polymer it should be redistilled before use and the fraction b.p. 76 -5-78° collected separately as a colourless liquid. 

Dehydrogenative Coupling of Hydride Functional Silanes. The autocouphng of dihydridosilanes was first observed usiag Wilkinson s catalyst (128). A considerable effort has been undertaken to enhance catalyst turnover and iacrease the molecular weight of polysilane products (129) because the materials have commercial potential ia ceramic, photoresist, and conductive polymer technology. 

For example, Novasina S.A. (www.novasina.com), a Swiss company specializing in the manufacture of devices to measure humidity in air, has developed a new sensor based on the non-synthetic application of an ionic liquid. The new concept makes simple use of the close correlation between the water uptake of an ionic liquid and its conductivity increase. In comparison with existing sensors based on polymer membranes, the new type of ionic liquid sensor shows significantly faster response times (up to a factor of 2.5) and less sensitivity to cross contamination (with alcohols, for example). Each sensor device contains about 50 pi of ionic liquid, and the new sensor system became available as a commercial product in 2002. Figure 9-1 shows a picture of the sensor device containing the ionic liquid, and Figure 9-2 displays the whole humidity analyzer as commercialized by Novasina S.A.. 

Predominantly di-end-functional polymers may be prepared by conducting polymerizations with high concentrations of a functional initiator. Some of the first commercial products of this class, carboxy and hydroxy-terminated polybutadienes, were produced by this route.194... 

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. 

Baytron , a conducting polymer [154] derived from 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, is a commercially available product that can be used as an antistatic or electrostatic coating of plastics and glass. Moreover, it has successfully been applied as counterelectrode in capacitors and as a hole-injection layer in organic light-emitting diodes [155]. 

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. 

Commercial use of "doped" polyacetylene electrochemical cells failed because of their air sensitivity and a long-term chemical degradation, which limited their shelf life to about six months this progressive degradation and color change of some conducting polymers was instead used as a tag to monitor the age of products with limited shelf life ... 

Dupont de Nemours) or analogous perfluorosulphonic acid membranes have been the dominating choice. The structure of the repeat structure of the polymer fluorocarbon backbone and a side chain with sulphonic acid ends upon which Nafion is based is shown in Fig. 3.42 (the commercial product is sold with various thicknesses and dimensions denoted by a number code such as "Nafion-117", related to non-SI units). The membranes should have high protonic conductivity, low gas permeability and, of course, a suitable mechanical strength and low temperature sensitivity. 

Very few CPs are produced in bulk quantities. Polyphenylene sulfide, a member of the third generation of polymers, was produced in bulk quantities many years before CPs were established and its dopability was elucidated. Polyethylenedioxythiophene is commercially available as a water-based colloidal dispersion (Baytron P water dispersion), and presumably as dispersible powders. The powders with a conductivity of 5-10 S/cm can be dispersed in thermoplastic polymers and in organic solvents such as xylene. Polyaniline doped with dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid and complexed with zinc dodecylbenzene sulfonate is commercially available as a powder, which can be dispersed in polyolefins. The same polymer doped with p-toluenesulfonic acid is also available as a dispersible powder, Ormecon, and in a predispersed form for solution processing in polar and nonpolar media. Based on Ormecon PANi, there are many commercial products marketed for many different applications. 

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