Metal-containing polymers, applications

The majority of inorganic reactions can be placed into one of two broad classes (1) oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions including atom and electron transfer reactions and (2) substitution reactions. Terms such as inner sphere, outer sphere, and photo-related reactions are employed to describe redox reactions. Such reactions are important in the synthesis of polymers and monomers and in the use of metal-containing polymers as catalysts and in applications involving transfer of heat, electricity, and light. They will not be dealt with to any appreciable extent in this chapter. 

There are a wide variety of inorganic and metal-containing polymers. The potential uses are many and include the broad areas of biomedical, electrical, optical, analytical, catalytic, building, and photochemical applications. 

Abd-El-Aziz, A., Carraher, C., Pittman, C., Sheats, J., and Zeldin, M. 2004. Biomedical Applications of Metal-Containing Polymers. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. 

A few remarks would be in order on the potentiality of metal-containing polymers as application-oriented materials. The major applications of these materials are in the following directions (a) electronic materials, anisotropic optical materials - active species in electronic energy-transfer processes of lasers... 

CoCp unit C-C bond activation, 7, 80 GoCp unit CH activation, 7, 79 in ethylene polymerization, 7, 81 substituted Cp, 7, 71 synthetic applications, 7, 77 tripodal rotations, dynamic NMR studies, 1, 415 7i-Cyclopentadienyl ligands, in metal-containing polymers,... 

Applications of Metal Containing Polymers in Organic Solar Cells... 

Despite the extensive application of ruthenium complexes in DSSC, transition metal containing polymers have received relatively little attention in the fabrication of polymeric photovoltaic cells. Most of the early works on ruthenium containing polymers were focused on the light-emitting properties.58-60 Several examples of ruthenium terpyridine/bipyridine containing conjugated polymers and their photoconducting/electroluminescent properties were reported.61,62... 

This volume of the series focuses on the photochemistry and photophysics of metal-containing polymers. Metals imbedded within macromolecular protein matrices form the basis for the photosynthesis of plants. Metal-polymer complexes form the basis for many revolutionary advances occurring now. The contributors to many of these advances are authors of chapters in this volume. Application areas covered in this volume include nonlinear optical materials, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, photovoltaic cells, field-effect transistors, chemosensing devices, and biosensing devices. At the heart of each of these applications are metal atoms that allow the assembly to function as required. The use of boron-containing polymers in various electronic applications was described in Volume 8 of this series. 

Clearly, many challenges remain for chemists interested in Tr-conjugated metal-containing polymers. Advances in the synthesis and characterization of these materials are critical to opening the door to practical and commercially viable applications. This field is a fertile research ground for young investigators. 

S.-H. Hwang and G.R. Newkome, Metallodendrimers and their potential utilitarian applications in A.S. Abd-El-Aziz and I. Manners (Eds.), Frontiers in Transition Metal-Containing Polymers, Wiley, Chichester, 2007. 

For the selective separation of organic compounds, specially prepared metal salt adsorbents (e.g., copper salts) are used, after volatile components have been eluted from them [106—108]. Good separations on these columns were obtained for isomeric ketones for example, heptanone-2, heptanone-3 and heptanone-4 were separated. Delventhal et al. [109] proposed the use of metal-containing polymers for the separation of various amines and thiophene. The advantage of these stationary phases was stated to be their high chemical and thermal stability. Nawrocki et al. [156] studied the application of coordination polymers as adsorbents and LSPs in GC. 

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