Conducting polymers: The route from fundamental science to technology

Abstract: For conducting polymers, a number of areas of potential applications have developed; each based on new phenomena that are specific to these materials and each directly traceable to specific aspects of the fundamental science. This "route from fundamental science to technology" is the focus of this short review. In addition to the remarkable electrical and mechanical properties which formed the initial (and continuing) basis of interest in the field, four specific examples are discussed: conducting polymers as electrochemically active materials, conducting polymers as electrochromic materials, conducting polymers as nonlinear optical materials, and conducting polymer blends as composite materials without a percolation threshold.