Conductive Polymers And Plastics

This book is a collection of papers by individuals in industry and academia on research and application development of conductive polymers and plastics. Conductive plastics are positioned to play an increasingly important role in affairs of mankind, specifically in the area of electrical and electronic conductivity. While general knowledge about conductive polymers and plastics has been available for many years, a true understanding of their application has only taken place in the last 3 to 4 years. This is attributed to advances in materials and processing techniques. Engineers have only begun to explore the design freedom and economic benefits of specifying conductive polymers and plastics in industrial and business applications. This book is a key reference and guide to the use of conductive polymers and plastics. It is a summary of existing technologies, but also a look at future possibilities.

Those who recognize that our modern life style is dependent, to a large extent, on the use of organic polymers as thermal and elec trical insulators, may be surprised to learn that specific plastics may also be used as conductors of electricity. In addition to demon strating the versatility of polymers, this use as conductors will lead to developments which were not possible with other available materials of construction. This is a new field which is growing rapidly because of intensive research and developmental efforts by many different industrial, governmental and university investigators. Many of these researchers reported advances in this art at a symposium on conductive polymers sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Division of Organic Coatings and Plastics Chemistry held at the Second Chemical Congress of the North American Continent at Las Vegas, in August 1980. The proceedings of this timely symposium are presented in this book. The editor wishes to take this opportunity to express his grati tude to the authors who contributed to this book and to the ACS Organic Coatings and Plastics Division for sponsoring this effort. Raymond B. Seymour Department of Polymer Science University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS 39401 v CONTENTS 1 New Horizons in Conductive Polymers Raymond B. Seymour Synthesis and Characterization of Conductive 7 Palladium Containing Polyimide Films • T.L. Wohlford. J. Schaff. L.T. Taylor.

This book is derived from the findings of an EU-funded project.Tthe objective of the project was to develop conductive plastic composites that are eco-friendly, cost effective and of high added value. This was achieved through an ambitious multidisciplinary approach developing new, radically innovative, knowledge-based and sustainable products for protection against the effects of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electrostatic discharge (ESD). Research was based on the compounding of engineering polymers and inherently conductive polymers (ICP) with improved conductivity, or hybrid systems of ICP with conductive nanotubes and other fibrous conductors. Innovative processing technologies specifically tailored to the new materials were also developed. the project aimed to dramatically extend the current performance and processability of ICP and alternative materials to enable significant replacement of metals in EMI shielding and ESD protection applications. This book will benefit plastics converters who wish to take full advantage of the potential of conductive plastic materials.

This book is derived from the findings of an EU-funded project. The objective ofthe project was to develop conductive plastic composites that are eco-friendly,cost effective and of high added value. This was achieved through an ambitiousmultidisciplinary approach developing new, radically innovative, knowledge-basedand sustainable products for protection against the effects of electromagneticinterference (EMI) and electrostatic discharge (ESD).Research was based on the compounding of engineering polymers and inherentlyconductive polymers (ICP) with improved conductivity, or hybrid systems of ICPwith conductive nanotubes and other fibrous conductors. Innovative processingtechnologies specifically tailored to the new materials were also developed. theproject aimed to dramatically extend the current performance and processabilityof ICP and alternative materials to enable significant replacement of metals in EMIshielding and ESD protection applications.This book will benefit plastics converters who wish to take full advantage of thepotential of conductive plastic materials.

The pioneering work by Nobel Prize Laureates Heeger, MacDiarmid, and Shirakawa marked the birth of conductive polymers, a new family of revolutionary organic materials at the boundaries between classic plastics, metals, and semiconductors. Since then, a host of chemically diverse conducting polymeric structures has been devised with fascinating optical, electrical, magnetic, and redox properties that can be tuned using easy chemical/electrochemical doping. In recent decades, the combination and blend of conductive polymers with other materials families (e.g., carbon nanomaterials, metal nanoparticles or oxide nanostructures, common polymers, and resins) fostered the advent of a new generation of hybrid multifunctional composites with enhanced properties and high potential for present and near-future everyday life applications, ranging from photovoltaics, OLEDs, smart windows and garments, plastic batteries for sensors, and intelligent actuators. In this book, we compile some of the latest advances in the field, covering both old issues and new examples emphasizing emerging applications in biomedical science, healthcare, separation science, and water pollution abatement.

Since the establishment of the conductive properties of intrinsic conductive polymers, an enormous variation of basic and applied research has been carried out, including different polymers, copolymers, blends, mixtures and composites. Until about 30 years ago all carbon based polymers were rigidly regarded as insulators. The notion that plastics could be made to conduct electricity would have been considered to be absurd. Indeed, plastics have been extensively utilized by the electronics industry for this very property. They are used as inactive packaging and insulating material. This very narrow perspective is rapidly changing as a new class of polymers known as intrinsically conductive polymers or electroactive polymers are being discovered. Consequently, ultimate understanding of physical and chemical properties of these materials has been pursued, while the applied facets have advanced very rapidly, crossing the boundaries between disciplines. Conductive polymers or, more precisely, intrinsically conducting polymers are organic polymers that conduct electricity. Such compounds may have metallic conductivity or can be semiconductors. The biggest advantage of conductive polymers is their processability, mainly by dispersion. Conductive polymers are generally not thermoplastics. But, like insulating polymers, they are organic materials. They can offer high electrical conductivity but do not show similar mechanical properties to other commercially available polymers. This book, Aspects on Fundaments and Applications of Conducting Polymers, deliver information about the development of fundamentals, and about some applications of conductive polymers.