19: Review of Conductive Polymers as Smart Materials

Chapter 19 reviews conductive polymers (CPs). There are currently a fairly large number of CPs or synthetic conductors that are being used industrially or medically. Some of the basic conducting polymers are polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene, poly(phenyl vinylene), polyacetylene, etc., which can be manufactured via chemical or electrochemical oxidation and reduction (redox) procedures. CPs with the ability to conduct electrical charges in addition to being flexible, optically active and not difficult to synthesize present a tremendous opportunity for the industrial and medical applications of CPs. Pioneering work on CPs reported the observation that the conductivity of polyacetylene increases by millions of times when it is oxidized via “doping” with iodine vapor. CPs can conduct electrical charge because within their molecular network charges can jump between the molecular chains of the polymer. CP molecular structures possess both single and double chemical bonds, which enhance charge transfer.