Materials and Chemistry of Conducting Polymers

Abstract

Conducting polymers (CPs), also known as “Synthetic Metal” refers to a polymer having a pi-conjugated backbone with electronic properties identical to those of inorganic metals. A breakthrough in the field of CPs was due to the collaborative work of Alan Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa, which changed the image of CPs from insulating plastics to semiconducting functional materials. Ever since its discovery, there has been a tremendous study going on in this field. CPs have attracted the interest of researchers worldwide because of their conductivity, compatibility, flexibility, low-cost processability, and tunable functionalities. The chemical and electronic properties of CPs can be controlled by doping and de-doping processes. The mechanism of electrical conductivity in CPs is due to the transport of polarons and bipolarons along the polymeric chain. Several CPs like polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPy), poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), and polythiophene (PTh) are studied for various applications. In this chapter, the design and synthesis, polymer structure, and properties demonstrate well-known and suitable applications of CPs in the field of sensing, supercapacitors, and coatings.