Kallmann and Pope

The first experiments with anthracene electrodes were performed by Kallmann and Pope. More detailed investigations were performed by Mehl and co-workers (see Ref. 97 and literature cited there). These authors analyzed quantitatively various charge transfer processes. They observed, for instance, a cathodic limiting current for anthracene using as a redox... 

ABSTRACT. The new field of the electrochemistry of electronically conducting polymers is reviewed. A brief historical account traces the beginning of organic electrodes to Kallmann and Pope, who, in 1960, observed charge injection and conductance in anthracene electrodes. 

Thus, a piece of anthracene in solution can act as an electrode and exchange charges with ions in the surrounding solution. Later in the 60 s, Mehl and Hale (2) did further work on conduction in anthracene electrodes. Although the potential differences across them were about 100 volts, these authors confirmed the concept of Kallmann and Pope that organic materials of very small intrinsic conductivity in the dry could be woken up by charge injection to act as electrodes. 

We have mentioned Kallmann and Pope (1) in the introductory remarks but it is easy to understate the importance of their 1960 paper which showed for the first time that shining light upon anthracene in contact with a solution containing iodide caused a change in current across the surface. This change was associated both with a change of conductivity of the solid and with a change in the electron transfer rate across the interface. 

The origin of the field concerned is traced back to Kallmann and Pope (1) of 1960 who showed that the insulator, anthracene, could become conducting in contact with ionic solutions. The discovery by MacDiarmid (5a) that doping of polyacetylene could lead to various degrees of electronic conductivity began the modern phase of the work. Electrochemical applications appear to have a good prospect. The MacDiarmid work was in 1977, and by 1981 reports of batteries (51) were published. 

M Pope, HP Kallmann, and PJ Magnante, Electroluminescence in organic crystals, J. Chem. Phys., 38 2042-2043, 1963. 

H. Kallmann and M. Pope, Conductivity of Insulators in Contact with Ionic Solutions, J. Chem.Phys. 32 300(1960). 

M. Pope, H.P. Kallmann and P. Magnante, Journal of Chemical Physics, 1963,... 

Pope M., Kallmann H. R, and Magnante R, Electroluminescence in Organic Crystals, ]. Chem. Phys. 38, (1963) 2042... 

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