Conducting Polymers, Composites and Polymer Blends
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Carbon Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 8517
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Conducting polymers have been systematically studied over forty years. Global research on conductive polymers has been largely stimulated by the rapid development of microelectronics over the past twenty years. Efforts to exploit every reasonable opportunity to obtain unconventional materials for electronic elements, and progressive technologies for their preparation, are a powerful impetus for intensive research on conductive polymers.
The conductivity of polymeric materials is caused by electrically charged particles, ions, protons, and electrons. Polymers in which electrons are the charge transfer elements are intrinsically conducting polymers, in which the electrical conductivity is a result of delocalized electrons along the polymer backbone, with polyaniline, polypyrrole, and PEDOT as prominent examples. Already, in 2000, Alan Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa were awarded by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the discovery and development of conductive polymers”.
Proton-conducting polymers are extensively exploited in low-temperature fuel cells. Fuel cell stacks and systems are presently commercialized and in operation, e.g., in hydrogen-driven cars. Extensive research activities are seeking next generation polymer electrolyte membranes to replace the present market leader Nafion.
Trends in the past few years regarding the preparation of particles with nano-scale dimensions have been developed in the area of conductive polymers. New types of nanoprticles in the shape of spheres, nanorods, and nanotubes have been studied because of their interesting properties and applications.
Conducting polymeric composites based on an insulating polymer matrix, with embedded conducting fillers, are applied as actuator materials in artificial muscles or (wave) energy-harvesting devices. Ionic conductivity, typically provided by salt ions dissolved in a soft but solid polymer matrix, is applied in, e.g., flexible electronics and in Li ion batteries.
Hybrids materials based on conducting polymers were developed and applied as conducting electrodes in various types of solar cells.
This Special Issue encourages contributions of the newest trends in research and applications of conducting polymeric materials in various areas such as electrode materials in fuel cells and batteries, in energy conversion, in flexible electronics, in supercapacitors, in materials for corrosion protection, in biomedical applications, and as sensors and actuators.
It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Original research, in the form of full papers, short communications, and reviews, is welcome.
Prof. Mária Omastová
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- intrinsically conducting polymers
- ionically conducting polymers
- proton conducting polymers
- conducting polymeric composites and hybrids
- applications of conducting polymeric materials
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