(606c) Design and Synthesis of High-Conductivity Self-Assembled Polymers

Polymers containing charged species have been considered as the key materials in improving the efficiency of electrochemical devices. Although the synthesis and characterization of a wide variety of charge-containing polymers have been extensively reported over the last decade, quantitative understanding of the factors governing the transport properties of these materials is in its infancy. In this talk, I will present the ways to improve transport properties of various polymeric materials. In the first part, based on the current understanding of the diverse factors affecting the thermodynamics, morphologies and transport of charge-containing polymers, various strategies for accessing improved transport properties are elucidated. The creation of well-defined self-assembled morphologies in such materials is particularly highlighted as a novel prospective technique geared towards obtaining next generation devices with enhanced performance. In the second part, a new methodology to develop two-dimensional conducting polymer nanosheets will be disclosed. With the use of ice as a removable hard template, a distinctly high electrical conductivity of 35 S/cm were obtained for polyaniline (PANI), which marked a significant improvement from the literature values on other PANIs reported over the past decades. These improved electrical properties of ice-templated PANI nanosheets were attributed to the ice surface-assisted long-range ordered edge-on π-stacking of the quinoid ring, expected to facilitate the eventual convenient and inexpensive application of conducting polymers in versatile electronic device forms.