Conjugated Polymers 2012

Dear Colleagues,

Conventional polymers (or plastics) have been traditionally considered passive materials and the electronic industry has been extensively using them as insulators of metallic conductors, photoresists, and incapsulation layers. However, those having a p-conjugated (hetero)aromatic backbone are capable of transporting charge and interact efficiently with light. Thus, since the discovery that chemical doping of polyacetylene resulted in a highly conducting material several academic and industrial research laboratories have initiated projects in this exciting area. Although the initial research and development emphasis was to enable highly conducting materials as a replacement of conventional metals, more recent efforts targeted their semiconducting properties. Furthermore the focus has shifted from synthesizing insoluble and untreatable powders such as polyacetylene and unsubtituted poly(heterocycles) such as polythiophene to enhancing the performance of semiconducting polymers exhibiting far greater solubility and manufacturability. The net result is that during the last 30 years an extensive library of polymers has been created by designing and synthesizing new polymerizable monomeric structures exhibiting physical and chemical properties tuned for implementation in a variety of opto-electronic devices. These modifications ultimately affect the charge transport characteristics of the bulk solid and define the role that the material may play in various device configurations. Example of applications include, but not limited to, conducting elements (after proper doping), organic photoconductors, field-effect transistors (FET), light-emitting diodes (LED), photovoltaic cells (PV), sensors, lasers, photodetectors, and organic circuits. The goal of this special issue is to cover prior or new synthetic aspects for the preparation of p-conjugated polymers, description of tools for understanding their optical, electrical, and structural properties as well as their implementation into different opto-electronic devices.

Prof. Dr. Antonio Facchetti
Guest Editor