Polymer films structure-conductivity relationships

One area where the relationship between the structure of the polymer matrix and the physical processes of the thin layer has been studied in detail is that of electrodes modified with polymer films. The polymer materials investigated in these studies include both conducting and redox polymers. Such investigations have been driven by the many potential applications for these materials. Conducting polymers have been applied in sensors, electrolytic capacitors, batteries, magnetic storage devices, electrostatic loudspeakers and artificial muscles. On the other hand, the development of electrodes coated with redox polymers have been used extensively to develop electrochemical sensors and biosensors. In this discussion,... 

Because the absorption at 2600 nm is characteristic of a more expanded conformational structure and the absorption at 780 nm is characteristic of a random coil conformation, the ratio of the absorbances at these two wavelengths can be used to estimate the relative ratio of these two conformational structures. As shown in Fig. 10, there exists a monotonically increasing relationship between the conductivity and the ratio of the intensity of the free carrier tail to the intensity of the localized polaron for free standing films of PANI-HCSA. This structure-property relationship serves as a criterion in choosing the appropriate solvent to process a conductive polymer into the highly conductive form. In particular, the simplicity of the UV-vis-NIR spectroscopic technique makes this method even more attractive for practical applications,... 

In this chapter, the application of this technique to the thin film processing of electroactive polymers is discussed. The fabrication of controlled molecular assemblies of electroactive polymers provides a unique opportunity to investigate the structure-property and structure-function relationships of multilayer thin films containing electrically conductive, optically nonlinear and redox active polymers. These assemblies can also be coupled to appropriate solid supports for application in such molecular electronic devices as ultrathin electrodes and transistors, opticd waveguides and switches, and chemical and biochemical microelectronic sensors. 

Although there is no consistent explanation of the relationship between organic polymer morphology and electrical properties,amorphous structures are generally preferred over a crystalline structure. An experiment was conducted to study the structure of the film deposited using an inert carrier gas. The PNT-N... 

Poly(styrene-co-butadiene) rubber and poly(acrylonitrile-co-butadiene) rubber latex mixture films were evaluated as precursors of polymer electrolytes. A 50 50 blend was the optimum for mechanical strength and ionic conductivity. A simple equivalent mechanical model for the relationship between the mechanical strength and the structure was developed, which gave good agreement with experimental results, including materials with co-continuous phase morphologies. 26 refs. 

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