Advances in Hybrid Conducting Polymer Technology

In recent years, the research about Conducting Polymers (CPs) have seen exponential growth due to their versatile applications. The widespread attention on CPs is due to its extraordinary properties such as simple preparation step, low cost of monomers, environmentally benign, and most importantly the high conducting properties like metals. In addition, lightweight of CPs and non-corrosive nature, have made it one of the versatile polymers in the materials group. These remarkable properties of CPs have made it to be easily integrated with the latest applications on photocatalyst, sensors, and actuators, solar cells, energy devices, and batteries. However, many have not realised the historical background of these versatile CPs. Hence, this chapter is an attempt to address the forgotten history of CPs with respect to certain selected well-known CPs.

It is well noted that Intrinsically Conducting Polymer (ICP) have been the main focus for many researchers for many applications involving energy storage devices and system. It is due to its remarkable properties, simple preparation technique, environmentally stable and safe as well as low expenditure cost. Integrating ICP with nanocomposite have also widened its capabilities in venturing into other application such as photocatalysis process. The photocatalytic study is a photoreaction process involving the use of nanomaterials and sunlight. Using ICP nanocomposite (ICP) as the sole material in the photocatalysis process increases the performance for photocatalytic study in various applications, water remediation, and production of Hydrogen gas. This chapter is an attempt of combining the recent performance of ICP nanocomposites mainly in the photocatalytic study that involves the preparation routes, fundamentals, comparison on recent literature with prospects and recommendation.

The realization of future energy based on safe, clean, sustainable, and economically viable technologies is one of the grand challenges faced by modern society. Electrochemical energy technologies underpin the potential success of this effort to divert energy sources away from fossil fuels, whether one considers alternative energy conversion strategies through photoelectrochemical (PEC) production of chemical fuels or fuel cells run with sustainable hydrogen, or energy storage strategies, such as in batteries and supercapacitors. This dissertation builds on recent advances in nanomaterials design, synthesis, and characterization to develop novel electrodes that can electrochemically convert and store energy. With the improvement of global economy, the fatigue of energy becomes inevitable in the twenty-first century. It is expected that the increase in world energy requirements will be triple at the end of this century. Thus, there is an imperative need for the development of renewable energy sources and storage systems.

Nanoelectronics is one of the exciting thrust areas which bring conventional electronics and nanotechnology together. These are governed with a motive to make smaller devices ensure their efficiencies remain the same as the conventional one. In recent decades, the field has been significantly emerging owing to its availability of different nanomaterials. Nanoelectronics devices can be constructed in many forms using various nanostructured materials, conducting polymers, and so on. Depending upon the different existing materials on constructing nanoelectronics devices, polymers are one of the chiefly used host matrices for nanomaterials to make the devices in practical ways. These kinds of devices are usually constructed through compositing with nanomaterials, films in the form of coating, and in some instances, it can be used on their own. The main features of conducting polymers are its inherent flexibility and its conductive nature, which makes it well-positioned for wearable electronics, transparent electronics, and nanoelectronics devices. This chapter more keenly focuses on conducting polymers and its composites for various nanoelectronics devices such as field-effect transistors (FETs), electrochromic displays, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), dielectrics, and neurotransmitters. This chapter will also provide insights into each aspect of the conducting polymers applications with its future trends and opportunities.

This chapter provides detail introductory information on conducting polymers based energy harvesting devices such as thermoelectric, piezoelectric, and solar cells. Energy harvesting is the capture and conversion of small amounts of readily available energy in the environment into usable electrical energy. Electric energy can be regulated for direct use or accumulated and stored for future use. This provides an alternative energy source for applications in areas where there is no grid power, where wind turbines or solar panels are inefficient. Apart from free solar energy, no small energy source can provide a large amount of energy. However, the energy captured is sufficient for most wireless applications, remote sensing, human implants, radio frequency identification, and other applications with a lower power spectrum. Even if the energy obtained is too low to power the device, it can still extend battery life. Energy harvesting is also known as energy scavenging or micro energy harvesting. Most low-power electronic products, such as remote sensors and embedded devices, are powered by batteries. However, even long-life batteries have a limited life and must be replaced every few years. When there are hundreds of sensors in remote areas, replacement costs can be high. On the other hand, energy harvesting technology provides unlimited service life for low-power devices and eliminates the need to replace batteries at a high cost, impractical or dangerous conditions. Most energy harvesting applications are designed to be self-sustaining, cost-effective, and require little or no service for many years.

The heat dissipation requirements of many industrial applications demand efficient, economical and eco-friendly coolants and lubricants with enhanced thermal transport characteristics. In this context, nanofluids have been extensively studied and praised as well. However, most of the nanomaterial additives are expensive, unstable within base fluids and a potential threat towards environmental pollution while dumping is needed. Therefore, the current review unveil the potential of conducting polymers (CPs) to develop stable, cost-effective and eco-friendly nanofluids within the base fluid networks. Only scant work is performed on CPs pertinent to thermal transport applications but a tremendous potential exists to manipulate them. Thus the conventional nanomaterials could be replaced with CPs particularly with polyamine (PANI) for possible deployment in convective heat transport devices. Besides the thermal transport mechanisms associated with CPs have also been discussed with intention to tailor them for specific applications. In this way, the present review could be considered as a starting point to explore further the potential of conducting polymers regarding heat transfer applications predominantly in nanofluids.

Decline in the availability of potable water due to introduction of enormous contaminants including heavy metals and dyes paves way for the introduction of new and advanced water treatment technologies that ensures suitability of water for drinking purpose and at the same time eliminate pollutants or contaminants present in water. Adsorption based on nanoadsorbents is promising because of cost effectiveness and ease of operation. Therefore, this chapter intends to provide comprehensive detail about the adsorption process which is considered as the best method for heavy metal and dye removal along with the factors affecting the adsorption process. Different types of nanoadsorbents showing greater efficiencies in terms of heavy metal and dye removal are also discussed in detail. Much consideration is being given to conducting polymers. An insight about the synthesis of certain conducting polymer based nanoadsorbents is provided. The excellent properties of conducting polymers have enabled them to be used in remediation of toxic contaminants. Recommendations for future research in the area of conducting polymer based nanoadsorbents for improving the heavy metal and dye removal potentials are also put forth.

Sensing technology has evolved from large systems with immovable components to flexible wearable devices capable of non-invasive and location-independent detection. With the demand for portable systems capable of real-time monitoring and accurate detection at ambient conditions increasing in every sector, there arises a need to transform or replace the conventional sensing elements with superior alternatives. Conducting polymers have unique features of processability and flexibility that make them prime candidates for developing new and advanced wearable devices. They represent a promising class of materials for sensing applications whose true potential is yet to be harnessed for device fabrication. Conducting polymers possess several advantages for use as sensing materials. These include their ability to respond to chemical and gaseous species through a change in their conductance at ambient conditions, large scale production and tunable electrical properties. This chapter focuses on the advances made in the development of conducting polymer-based sensors to detect chemical molecules, gaseous analytes, and optical detection of molecules of interest. The use of hybrid conducting polymer systems incorporating nanomaterials and metal oxides towards sensing pollutants, pharmaceuticals, microbes, volatile gases in the environment and breath, and clinically relevant biomarkers has been discussed in detail. The challenges involved in conducting polymer-based systems and the potential for the evolution of this class of sensors by integrating emerging technologies are also presented.

With the increasing the consumption of gigahertz communication devices in modern technology, interference of electromagnetic (EM) wave become the major problem. Thus, the protection of communication and electronic devices against the EMI pollution become the worldwide concern. In this context, present chapter demonstrate the current status of conducting polymer based EMI shielding materials. The discovery of two dimensional material such as graphene, MoS\(_2\), MXene put a forward step in direction of advancement of EMI shielding material in compare with traditional metallic filler based polymer composites. Combination of 2D materials with polymers not only facilitate the EMI shielding, but also beneficial for microwave absorption. The basic EMI shielding mechanism and the factor that influence the EMI performance have been discussed. After this, we have explored the major challenges in existing technology along with future opportunities to develop the advanced composites for EMI shielding and microwave absorption application.

Conducting polymers (CPs) consist of appropriate intrinsic monomers intertwined like biomolecules. These stable CPs exhibit enhanced conductivity and sensitivity at the cellular level that finds various applications in the manufacturing of biomedical devices. Indeed, they can be synthesized using different techniques rapidly and cost-effectively with typical biocompatibility and biodegradability behavior. The affinity of CPs towards cells at the polymer-tissue interface extends their applications in the biomedical and clinical fields such as artificial nerves, biosensors, neural implants, drug delivery devices, etc. Thus, taking advantage of the critical role played by the CPs in the biomedical sector, this chapter focuses on the CPs outlook towards tissue engineering aspects with a special emphasis on the synthesis and fine-tuning of the surface properties providing enhanced physicochemical characteristics required in the biomedical field.

Conducting polymers are polymers with a network of free electrons and hence, can conduct electricity. Nanomaterials doped conducting polymers are generally referred to as conducting polymer nanocomposites. These nanocomposites have recently emerged as pivotal alternatives in the drug delivery and therapy of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria. Bacterial infections are one of the leading contributors in high rate of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Furthermore, the emergence of multi-drug resistance in pathogenic bacteria has worsened the disease burden. Albeit the advances in antimicrobial therapy, the success in development of new antibiotics have been limited. Recently, a variety of nanocomposites based on nitrogen-containing conducting polymers including polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPy) and polycarbazole (PC) as well as sulphur-containing conducting polymers including polythiophene (PT) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), have been investigated as antibacterial platforms against pathogenic bacteria. Among nanoparticles, the most widely used metals include gold, silver, palladium, copper, titanium oxide, zinc oxide and iron oxide. However, the exact mechanism of their antibacterial activity is not completely understood. It is evident from some studies that conducting polymers-based nanocomposites are biocompatible materials making them ideal candidates for drug development against infectious diseases. Moreover, conducting polymers and their nanocomposites have also been used to study antibacterial activity. All in all, at present, the use of conducting polymer-based nanocomposites against bacterial infections has not been studied extensively. In this chapter we will summarize the recent reports of uses of conducting polymer-based nanocomposites for the therapy of pathogenic bacteria and will also identify the research gaps in this field. Furthermore, we will also propose a future perspective to overcome existing limitations and suggest some possible solutions based on our expertise. This chapter in our opinion, will benefit the researchers working in the field of nanomedicine as well as antimicrobials, and will be of high value to students, clinicians and pharmaceutical sectors.

The extended π-conjugated intrinsic conducting polymers (CP) have increasingly been employed to replace Pt-based counter electrodes (CEs) in dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) due to their ease in processing, control over electrical properties, structural porosity and resistance to corrosion. Most conductive polymers are derivatives of polyacetylene, polyaniline, polypyrrole or polythiophenes. The Pt-based counter electrode accounts for 46% of total cost of DSSC. Various materials classes and their combinations have been investigated as potential replacement with increasingly favorable claims. Herein, a brief account of study has been presented with focus on conducting polymers as potential replacement for Pt-based CEs in DSSCs. Various nano-reinforcements have also been presented and their perceived effects will be discussed in detail. The CPs accounts for 11.19% of total published articles related to CEs for DSSCs and 1.23% share in granted patents. In this chapter, all the important conducting polymers (which have been used as CE) have been discussed section-wise with nano-reinforcements being utilized to improve the performance.

The photovoltaic technology is an emerging technology nowadays due to increasing energy demands and its low price, simple manufacturing process, environmental friendliness, and comparatively high conversion efficiency. Dye sensitize solar cell (DSSC) a third-generation renewable energy technology device imitates the process of photosynthesis and provides a cost-effective, easy and efficient alternative of solar to conversion of electrical energy. Like other major parts, which affect DSSC efficiency, counter-electrode catalyzes the decrease of redox by collecting electrons from external circuits. There are numerous available materials and methods that have been used to make DSSC counter electrode (CE), which significantly affects DSSC efficiency. In this chapter our focus is to provide comprehensive research on the use of conducting polymer as counter electrode for DSSC by using different synthesis techniques. It includes the use of various types of conducting polymers (CPs) employed as CE of DSSC, a replacement of conventionally used Pt CE through different means by providing an extensive overview of a wide range of techniques used on TCO to manufacture the CE.