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Conductive Polymers - More Than Meets The Eye

We have been taught that plastics, unlike metals, do not conduct electricity. Plastic is used as insulation around the copper wires in ordinary electrical cables. Yet, the 2000 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry were rewarded for their revolutionary discovery that plastic can, after certain modifications, be made electrically conductive.


 

Plastics are polymers, molecules that repeat their structure regularly in long chains. For a polymer to be able to conduct electric current it must consist alternately of single and double bonds between the carbon atoms. It must also be "doped", which means that electrons are removed (through oxidation) or introduced (through reduction). These "holes" or extra electrons can move along the molecule - it becomes electrically conductive.


Heeger, MacDiarmid and Shirakawa made their seminal findings at the end of the 1970s and have subsequently developed conductive polymers into a research field of great importance for chemists as well as physicists. The area has also yielded important practical applications. Conductive plastics are used in, or being developed industrially for, e.g. anti-static substances for photographic film, shields for computer screen against electromagnetic radiation and for "smart" windows (that can exclude sunlight). In addition, semi-conductive polymers have recently been developed in light-emitting diodes, solar cells and as displays in mobile telephones and mini-format television screens.
Research on conductive polymers is also closely related to the rapid development in molecular electronics. In the future we will be able to produce transistors and other electronic components consisting of individual molecules - which will dramatically increase the speed and reduce the size of our computers. A computer corresponding to what we now carry around in our bags would suddenly fit inside a watch