RECENT ADVANCES IN POLYMERIC MATERIALS: A REVIEW OF FABRICATION METHODS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Polymers are typically associated with insulators. People learn early on not to touch frayed electrical cords to avoid a shock from exposed conductive metal wires. Plastics, for instance, do not conduct electricity and are used to insulate electrical wires, protecting us from electrical currents. Polymers are commonly seen as lightweight replacements for heavier materials like steel and wood and are traditionally used as insulators to prevent electric shocks from live conductors. However, the discovery that certain polymers could conduct electricity as efficiently as metallic copper was quite unexpected and led to the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry being awarded to Alan J. Heeger, Alan G. MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa. Conductive polymers need to be doped with ionic components to achieve low resistivity. The availability and low cost of polymers like Polypayrrole have made the field of conductive polymers a thriving industry, and these materials have found applications in many areas.