Conductive Polymers

♤ Conductive polymers are organic polymers that conduct electricity. Such compounds may have metallic conductivity equal to metals or semiconductors.

♤ They can offer high electrical conductivity but do not show similar mechanical properties to other commercially available polymers.

♤ The biggest advantage of conductive polymers is their processability, mainly by dispersion

♤ An Indian scientist, Mrinal Thakur has been nominated for the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of non-conjugated conductive polymers

♤ Two Americans — Alan Heeger and Alan MacDiarmid — and a Japanese, Hideki Shirakawa, won the Chemistry Nobel in 2000 for their discovery conductive polymers

♤ Recent Development: The new nanostructured forms of conducting polymers particularly, augment this field with their higher surface area and better dispersability.

♤ Applications: Specially designed organic polymer can emit light when electric current is passed through then so they have been incorporated into commercial displays and batteries eg. OLED TV. These photodiodes are more energy saving and generate less heat than light bulbs also flexible displays can be made using them.

♤ They are also promising in organic solar cells, printing electronic circuits, actuators, supercapacitors, chemical sensors and biosensors, flexible transparent displays, electromagnetic shielding and possibly replacement for the popular transparent conductor indium tin oxide.

♤ Eg. polyaniline is widely used for printed circuit board manufacturing – in the final finish, for protecting copper from corrosion and preventing its solderability

♤ It is also used on computer screens, protecting the user from electromagnetic radiation, and as a corrosion inhibitor

♤ Another use is for microwave-absorbent coatings, particularly radar-absorptive coatings on stealth aircraft.

♤ Limitations: There have had limitations due to the manufacturing costs, material inconsistencies, toxicity, poor solubility in solvents, and inability to directly melt process.