ABSTRACT
The choice of polymer fibrils was based on their advantageous properties of being easy to process, compactness, flexibility and good conductivity. In particular, electrically conducting polymers have received much attention since their discovery as they promise to combine the optoelectronic properties of metals and semiconductors with the processability of polymers. The main task in the CORTEX project was to control the polymer growth and develop techniques in order to produce isolated highly conducting polymer wires. Molecular self-assembled interconnections are based on two different polymer families: polypyrrole and polythiophene. The pyrrole and thiophene, non-functionalized, monomers are commercial products. The conducting polymer polypyrrole has attracted much interest in the polymer field due to its electrical conductivity and its potential application in biosensors, batteries and electronic devices. The synthesis of the polypyrrole can be realized either by Chemical polymerization or by Electrochemical polymerization in several solvents such as acetonitrile or water, whereas the thiophene monomer only forms a polymer by electrochemical polymerization.
