Conducting Polymers: Definition, Examples, Properties and Applications
What are Conducting Polymers?
As the name suggests organic polymers that conduct electricity are known as conducting
polymers. They are also known as intrinsically conducting polymers (ICPs) and they have
alternating single and double bonds along the polymer backbone (conjugated bonds) or that are
composed of aromatic rings such as Phenylene, naphthalene, anthracene, pyrrole, and thiophene
which are connected through carbon-carbon single bonds.
Examples: Polyacetylene, Polypyrrole, Polyaniline, etc
What is the reason behind conducting nature of these polymers?
Conducting polymers comes in two forms that are doped conducting polymers and non-doped
conducting polymers. The conductivity of non-doped conjugated polymers is due to the
existence of a conductivity band similar to a metal.
In a conjugated polymer, three of the four valence electrons form strong sigma bonds through sp²
hybridization where electrons are strongly localized.
The remaining unpaired electron of each carbon atom remains in a P𝘻 orbital. It overlaps with a
neighboring P𝘻 orbital to form a pi bond.
The pi electrons of these conjugated P𝘻 orbitals overlap to form an extended P𝘻 orbital system
through which electrons can move free (delocalization of pi electrons). However, the
conductivity of non-doped polymers is low.
In the case of doped conjugated polymers, an electron is removed from the valence band by
oxidation (p-doping) or is added to the conducting band by reduction (n-doping).
P-doping increases the mobility of electrons in these delocalized orbitals and the polymer
becomes highly conductive.
Properties of Conducting Polymers
1. Conductivity polymers have high melting and softening points because the mobility of
the repeat units is highly restricted due to the presence of a fully aromatic ring structure
and the absence of free rotating groups.
2. Conductivity polymers show excellent chemical, thermal and oxidative stability due to
low hydrogen content and aromatic structure.
3. They can be processed into a highly ordered crystalline thin film that is electrically
conducting upon doping.
4. They are insoluble in many common solvents.
Applications of Conducting Polymers
1. They are used in the manufacturing of chemical sensors, electro-magnetic shielding,
antistatic coatings, corrosion inhibitors, etc.
2. They are also used in compact electronic devices such as polymer-based transitions,
light-emitted diode (LEDs), and lasers.
3. They are used for microwave-absorbent coating particularly radar-absorptive coatings on
stealth aircraft.
4. They are used in the manufacturing of printed circuit board because it protects the copper
from corrosion and prevents its solderability.
Following are some common examples of conducting polymers:
Examples of Conducting Polymers
1. Polyacetylene
Polyacetylene or Polyethyne having a repeating unit (C₂H₂)ₙ, is a rigid, rod-like polymer that
consists of long carbon chains with alternating single and double bonds between the carbon
atoms.
It is a conducting polymer whose electrical conductivity was dissolved by Hideki
Shirakawa, Alan Heeger, and Alan MacDiarmid who received Nobel Prize in chemistry in
2000 for their work.
Structure of Polyacetylene
There are two types of structure of Polyacetylene that is cis- and trans-polyacetylenes.
Preparation of Polyacetylene
Properties of Polyacetylene
1. Films of cis-polyacetylene are flexible and can be readily stretched while trans-
polyacetylene is much more brittle.
2. Both cis and trans-polyacetylene show high thermal stability.
3. They are insoluble in common solvents.
Applications of Polyacetylene
1. Doped polyacetylene offers a particularly high electrical conductivity therefore it can be
used in electric wiring or electrode material in lightweight rechargeable batteries.
2. Tri-iodide oxidized polyacetylene can be used as a sensor to measure glucose
concentration.
2. Polyaniline
Polyaniline (PANI) is a conducting polymer of the semi-flexible rod polymer family which was
discovered in the early 1860s by lightfoot through oxidation of aniline. It behaves like an organic
semiconductor that has good electrical conductivity measured in the units s/cm.
Structure of Polyaniline
Preparation of Polyaniline
Polyaniline is synthesized by oxidative polymerization of aniline.
Properties of Polyaniline
1. It has great electrical conductivity in the range of 10⁻¹⁰ to 10² s/cm.
2. It has band gapes of 4.3 and 2.7 ev in its reduced and oxidized forms respectively.
3. It has high chemical stability.
4. Polyaniline-based composition can withstand high temperatures like 230-240 ℃ without
significant change in electrical properties.
Applications of Polyaniline
1. It is used in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards.
2. Polyaniline and its derivatives are used as the base element for the production of N-doped
carbon materials.
3. The color change of polyaniline in different oxidation states can be used in sensors and
electrochromic devices.
4. Printed emeraldine polyaniline-based sensors have wide application in the electronic
sector.
3. Polypyrrole
Polypyrrole (PPy) is an organic polymer having the chemical formula H(C ₄H ₂NH) ₙH which is
obtained by oxidative polymerization of pyrrole. It is an intrinsically conducting polymer that
is used in electronics, optical, biological, and medical fields.
Structure of Polypyrrole
Preparation of Polypyrrole
Polypyrrole can be produced by oxidative polymerization of pyrrole.
Properties of Polypyrrole
1. It is an insulator but its oxidized derivatives are good electrical conductors having
conductivity in the range of 2 to 1000 s/cm.
2. It attains good thermal stability if treated with an acid or base like sulphuric acid and
sodium hydroxide.
3. It is corrosion resistant and also chemically stable due to cross-linking.
4. Its glass transition temperature is 160-170 ℃.
Applications of Polypyrrole
1. Polypyrrole and its related polymers are used in electronic devices and chemical sensors.
2. It can be used as a potential vehicle for drug delivery.
3. It can be used as catalyst support for fuel cells.
4. It is used to coat silica and reverse-phase silica to yield a material capable of anion
exchange.
