9 - Conjugated polymers for flexible energy harvesting and storage devices

Abstract

There is an increasing demand for flexible, lightweight, mobile devices such as roll-up displays, electronic papers, wearable sensors, and soft robots. Flexible devices can also be readily formed into shapes that are easily integrated into large-scale applications, including vehicles, signage, and architectural lighting. Powering these flexible devices will require advances in energy harvesting, high-density energy storage (battery-like), and high-power density energy storage (capacitor-like). Conjugated conducting/semiconducting polymers including poly(3,4-dioxythiophene), 3-methyl thiophene, polyaniline, and polypyrrole offer the mechanical flexibility required for the next-generation energy and electronic applications. This chapter will focus on the basic interconnection between the nanostructure and the characteristics of conjugated conducting/semiconducting polymers. In addition, the integration of conjugated conducting/semiconducting polymers into flexible energy devices and the resulting state-of-the-art device performance will be covered.