Electroactive polymers applications

I75C. Ehrenbeck and K. Jiittner, Electrochim. Acta 41 (1996) 1815. mE. G. Lyons, ed., Electroactive Polymers Electrochemistry. Part 1. Fundamentals, 1994 Part 2. Methods and Applications, 1996, Plenum Press, New York. 

Source Liu, C. et at, Electro-statically stricted polymers (ESSP), SPIE Conference on Electroactive Polymer Actuator and Devices, Newport Beach, California, March 1999, SPIE Vol. 3669,0277-786X/99 Kombluh, R. et at, Application of Dielectric Elastomer EAP Actuators, SPIE— the International Society for Optical Engineering, Bellingham, Washington, 2001, Chapter 16. 

Pelrine, R., Sommer-Larsen, P., Kombluh, R., Heydt, R., Kofod, G., Pei, Q., and Gravesen, P., Applications of dielectric elastomer actuators, in SPIE, smart stmctures and materials, 2001, Electroactive polymer actuators and devices, Y. Bar-Cohen (Ed.), Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 4329, 0277-786X/2001. 

Lyons, M. E. G., Electroactive Polymer Electrochemistry, Part 2, Methods and Applications, Kluwer, New York, 1996. 

Mastragostino, M., in Applications of Electroactive Polymers, B. Scrosati, Ed., Chapman Hall, London, pp. 223-249. 

Modification of electrodes by electroactive polymers has several practical applications. The mediated electron transfer to solution species can be used in electrocatalysis (e.g. oxygen reduction) or electrochemical synthesis. For electroanalysis, preconcentration of analysed species in an ion-exchange film may remarkably increase the sensitivity (cf. Section 2.6.4). Various... 

The covalent chemistry of fullerenes has developed very rapidly in the past decade in an effort to modify fuUerene properties for a number of applications such as photovoltaic cells, infrared detectors, optical limiting devices, chemical gas sensors, three-dimensional electroactive polymers, and molecular wires [8, 25, 26, 80-82]. Systematic studies of the redox properties of Cgo derivatives have played a crucial role in the characterization of their unique electronic properties, which lie at the center of these potential applications. Furthermore, electrochemical techniques have been used to synthesize and separate new fullerene derivatives and their isomers as well as to prepare fullerene containing thin films and polymers. In this section, to facilitate discussion of their redox properties, Cgo derivatives have been classified in three groups on the basis of the type of attachment of the addend to the fullerene. In group one, the addends are attached via single bonds to the Cgo surface as shown in Fig. 6(a) and are referred to as singly bonded functionalized derivatives. The group includes... 

Salaneck [3] presented in the mid-1980s a fine review on the application of photoelectron spectroscopic techniques to the study of electroactive polymers. However, a substantial number of new and significant XPS studies have since appeared, in conjunction with the ever increasing research on new families of electroactive polymers. This is particularly true for aniline polymers and some polyheterocycles. Thus, updating XPS work on electroactive polymers appears to be appropriate. This review will focus mainly on XPS core-level spectra, with some references made to valence band spectra. First, a brief description of the basic principles of XPS is presented for readers who are less familiar with this technique. Next, the type and level of information that its application provides for the elucidation of the intrinsic structure, the CT interaction, and the stability and degradation behavior of each family of electroactive polymers are presented and discussed in detail. Finally, some future directions for the applications of... 

In considering the potential applications of electroactive polymers, the question always arises as to their stability. The deterioration of a physical property such as conductivity can be easily measured, but the chemical processes underlying it are not as easy to be revealed. In order to understand them, XPS has been used to follow the structural changes which occur in the polymer chain and the counter-ions of the doped polymer. The following sections present some XPS findings on the degradation of electroactive polymers, such as polyacetylene, polypyrrole, polythiophene and polyaniline, in the undoped and doped states. 

In this review, some of the electroactive polymers most commonly studied during the past one and a half decades have been selected to illustrate the type and level of information obtainable from XPS core-level spectra. It concerns (a) the intrinsic structure, (b) the CT interaction, and (c) the stability and degradation behavior. The review is meant to be comprehensive, although emphasis has been placed on some specific issues related to these three basic physicochemical properties. For example, the chemical nature of the nitrogens in PPY and PAN has been critically compared on the basis of XPS data. Some of the major discrepancies in the XPS literature of electroactive polymers have also been examined. In most cases, preference has been given to results for which proper justification and careful comparison with available data are possible. Finally, some future trends in the application of XPS and other more surface sensitive techniques to the study of highly reactive conjugated polymer surfaces have been mentioned. 

Scrosati, B., Ed. Applications of Electroactive Polymers, Chapman Hall New York, 1993. 

The modification of electrode surfaces with electroactive polymer films provides a means to control interfacial characteristics. With such a capability, one can envisage numerous possible applications, in areas as diverse as electronic devices, sensors, electrocatalysis, energy conversion and storage, electronic displays, and reference electrode systems [1, 2]. With these applications in view, a wide variety of electroactive polymeric materials have been investigated. These include both redox polymers (by which we imply polymers with discrete redox entities distributed along the polymer spine) and conducting polymers (by which we imply polymers with delocalised charge centres on the polymer spine). 

Refs. [i] Rodriguez I Grande H-J, Otero TF (1997) Polypyrroles from basic research to technological applications. In Nalwa HS (ed) Handbook of organic conductive molecules and polymers. Wiley, Chichester [ii] Wallace GG, Spinks GM, Kane-Maguire LAP, Teasdale, PR (2002) Conductive electroactive polymers intelligent materials systems. CRC Press, Boca Raton... 

Another coupling method, i.e. cross-linking or entrapment in polymeric films, which has been used to create a more permanent nucleic acid surface, is described in some chapters (e.g. conductive electroactive polymers for DNA immobilization and self-assembly DNA-conjugated polymers). One chapter reviews the basic characteristics of the biotin-(strept)avidin system laying the emphasis on nucleic acids applications. The biotin-(strept)avidin system can be also used for rapid prototyping to test a large number of protocols and... 

EC/33 PC/21 PAN/8 LiCl04 inidcates that this polymer includes EC, PC, PAN, and LiCi04 in weight ratio of 38 33 21 8 (reproduced with permission from Application of Electroactive Polymers, B. Scrosati (ed.), Chapman Hall, London (1993) [74]). 

The field of molecular electronics may be considered to encompass much more than molecular electronic devices. In its broadest context, molecular electronics may be regarded as simply the application of molecules, primarily organic molecules, to electronics. This definition would include such areas as liquid crystalline materials, piezoelectric materials such as poly(vinylidine fluoride), chemically sensitive field-eflFect transistors (CHEMFET), and the whole range of electroactive polymers. These applications are beyond the scope of this book and are covered in other reviews 34, 33). However, given the basic tenet of molecular electronics, namely, the ability to engineer and assemble molecular structures into a useful device, the broader definition raises the question of whether organic molecules can be specifically assembled or engineered for unique applications in electronics. 

Y. Wei, Nanocomposite/Hybrid Materials of Electroactive Polymers with Inorganic Oxides for Biosensor Applications, Storming Media, Washington DC, 2001. 

As intensive studies on the ECPs have been carried out for almost 30 years, a vast knowledge of the methods of preparation and the physico-chemical properties of these materials has accumulated [5-17]. The electrochemistry ofthe ECPs has been systematically and repeatedly reviewed, covering many different and important topics such as electrosynthesis, the elucidation of mechanisms and kinetics of the doping processes in ECPs, the establishment and utilization of structure-property relationships, as well as a great variety of their applications as novel electrochemical systems, and so forth [18-23]. In this chapter, a classification is proposed for electroactive polymers and ion-insertion inorganic hosts, emphasizing the unique feature of ECPs as mixed electronic-ionic conductors. The analysis of thermodynamic and kinetic properties of ECP electrodes presented here is based on a combined consideration of the potential-dependent differential capacitance of the electrode, chemical diffusion coefficients, and the partial conductivities of related electronic and ionic charge carriers. 

Kim, K.J. and Tadokoro, S. (eds) (2007) Electroactive Polymers for Robotics Applications. Artificial Muscles and Sensors, Springer-Verlag, London. 

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