3 - Synthetic approaches of conducting polymer nanocomposites

Abstract

Conducting polymers (CPs) have emerged as efficient materials that are of interest in science, engineering, and industry. These materials have played a vital role in electronic applications and have helped to bring about the era of flexible electronics. The first CP (polyacetylene) was discovered in 1977, and its inventors were later recognized with a Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000. Since then, CPs have been the most sought-after functional materials that offer versatile photonic and electronic properties due to their increased π-conjugated length, huge surface area to volume ratio, interesting mechanism of electrical conductivity, and reversible redox doping/dedoping process. CP nanocomposites (NCs) are another area of interest and include a group of hybrid materials containing various inorganic particles synthesizable via chemical and/or electrochemical techniques. Some of the synthetic approaches of conducting NCs are (1) hydrothermal, (2) sol–gel, (3) solid template, and (4) in situ methods. Commercial applications for these composites range from electronics to chemical process control and hence a large number of researchers across the globe have focused on understanding CP NCs. However, much-needed attention has not been paid towards the possible prospective applications in the synthetic approaches of conducting NCs. We believe that this chapter will provide an insight into the various synthetic approaches used for the synthesis of CP NCs.