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Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Electroactive Polymers
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Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Electroactive Polymers

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymeric Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 May 2023) | Viewed by 9410

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Jennifer Irvin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA
Interests: electrospinning; biosensors; maximizing molecular weight; photocatalytic water purification; scaffolds for nerve regeneration; energy storage; ion transport; nanoscale templating approaches to enhance electroactivity; n-doping stability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Electroactive polymers (also known as conducting polymers or inherently/intrinsically conducting polymers) are polymers that change their properties as a function of applied electric field. The typically poor conductivities of these polymers relative to many metals has led some scientists and engineers to discount their utility. It is for that reason that the term electroactive polymers is perhaps a better descriptor; the ability of these materials to change properties is what has led to most of the potential applications. In the last four decades, electroactive polymers have transformed from interesting anomalies to promising materials for many applications.  Changes in color have led to applications in electrochromics; changes in volume have practical applications in actuators, drug delivery, and separations; conductivity changes are useful for sensors; stable oxidation/reduction processes allow the materials to be used for energy storage (batteries and capacitors) and static dissipation; and light absorption and emission processes allow the polymers to be useful for photovoltaic and light emitting applications. There are many other electroactive polymer technologies and applications developing as the field is rapidly advancing into new areas of discovery.

We invite the scientific community to submit their contributions, in the form of original research articles and review articles, in all areas of electroactive polymers. We are particularly interested in articles describing 1) synthetic approaches to monomers and polymers, 2) characterization of these polymers, and 3) applications of electroactive polymers in areas including photovoltaics, light emission, electrochromics, sensors, drug delivery, energy storage, actuators, static dissipation, and novel applications. 

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Jennifer Irvin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • electroactive polymer
  • conducting polymer
  • battery
  • capacitor
  • photovoltaic
  • electrochromic
  • drug delivery
  • sensor
  • actuator
  • light emitting polymer
  • static dissipation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 2914 KiB  
Article
Enabling Conducting Polymer Applications: Methods for Achieving High Molecular Weight in Chemical Oxidative Polymerization in Alkyl- and Ether-Substituted Thiophenes
by David D. Hebert, Michael A. Naley, Carter C. Cunningham, David J. Sharp, Emma E. Murphy, Venus Stanton and Jennifer A. Irvin
Materials 2021, 14(20), 6146; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14206146 - 16 Oct 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4061
Abstract
Polythiophenes (PTs) constitute a diverse array of promising materials for conducting polymer applications. However, many of the synthetic methods to produce PTs have been optimized only for the prototypical alkyl-substituted example poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). Improvement of these methods beyond P3HT is key to enabling [...] Read more.
Polythiophenes (PTs) constitute a diverse array of promising materials for conducting polymer applications. However, many of the synthetic methods to produce PTs have been optimized only for the prototypical alkyl-substituted example poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). Improvement of these methods beyond P3HT is key to enabling the widespread application of PTs. In this work, P3HT and two ether-substituted PTs poly(2-dodecyl-2H,3H-thieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxine) (PEDOT-C12) and poly(3,4-bis(hexyloxy)thiophene) (PBHOT) are synthesized by the FeCl3-initiated oxidative method under different conditions. Polymerization was carried out according to a common literature procedure (“reverse addition”) and a modified method (“standard addition”), which differ by the solvent system and the order of addition of reagents to the reaction mixture. Gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) was performed to determine the impact of the different methods on the molecular weights (Mw) and degree of polymerization (Xw) of the polymers relative to polystyrene standards. The standard addition method produced ether-substituted PTs with higher Mw and Xw than those produced using the reverse addition method for sterically unhindered monomers. For P3HT, the highest Mw and Xw were obtained using the reverse addition method. The results show the oxidation potential of the monomer and solution has the greatest impact on the yield and Xw obtained and should be carefully considered when optimizing the reaction conditions for different monomers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Electroactive Polymers)
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Review

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72 pages, 10656 KiB  
Review
Electrospun Conducting Polymers: Approaches and Applications
by Mariana Acosta, Marvin D. Santiago and Jennifer A. Irvin
Materials 2022, 15(24), 8820; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15248820 - 9 Dec 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4585
Abstract
Inherently conductive polymers (CPs) can generally be switched between two or more stable oxidation states, giving rise to changes in properties including conductivity, color, and volume. The ability to prepare CP nanofibers could lead to applications including water purification, sensors, separations, nerve regeneration, [...] Read more.
Inherently conductive polymers (CPs) can generally be switched between two or more stable oxidation states, giving rise to changes in properties including conductivity, color, and volume. The ability to prepare CP nanofibers could lead to applications including water purification, sensors, separations, nerve regeneration, wound healing, wearable electronic devices, and flexible energy storage. Electrospinning is a relatively inexpensive, simple process that is used to produce polymer nanofibers from solution. The nanofibers have many desirable qualities including high surface area per unit mass, high porosity, and low weight. Unfortunately, the low molecular weight and rigid rod nature of most CPs cannot yield enough chain entanglement for electrospinning, instead yielding polymer nanoparticles via an electrospraying process. Common workarounds include co-extruding with an insulating carrier polymer, coaxial electrospinning, and coating insulating electrospun polymer nanofibers with CPs. This review explores the benefits and drawbacks of these methods, as well as the use of these materials in sensing, biomedical, electronic, separation, purification, and energy conversion and storage applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis, Characterization and Application of Electroactive Polymers)
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