Chapter 1 - Synthesis, electrical, and optical properties of conjugated polymers

Abstract

This chapter examines important aspects of the synthesis, electrical, and optical properties of conducting polymers. There are a variety of routes toward the synthesis of polyacetylene. These syntheses can be classified into four categories: catalytic polymerization of acetylene, noncatalytic polymerization of acetylene, catalytic polymerization of monomers other than acetylene, and, finally, precursor methods. Many chemical reaction schemes have been proposed for polyaromatics and they can be classified as—(1) direct oxidation of benzene, (2) organometallic coupling, (3) precursor methods, and (4) electrochemical syntheses. There are several approaches toward the preparation of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (FPV), which can be classified as direct and precursor methods. Several of these methods have been applied to synthesize heterocyclic derivatives, alkoxy-substituted poly(thienylene vinylene), and poly(furylene vinylene). Several types of π-electron systems have shown very interesting features in the electrical transport properties. The charge-transfer complexes consisting of electron-donating and electron-withdrawing organic molecules have a wide range of exciting electronic properties of low-dimensional systems. The typical sp2-carbon-rich systems such as intercalated graphite, carbon-60, and carbon nanotubes display a wide range of behavior from metals to insulators.