ABSTRACT
Conjugated polymers, such as polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyaniline (PANI) and its derivatives, are the most promising class of organic-semiconducting materials due to their better electrochemical behavior, electrochromism, ease of doping, and synthesis. PANI are commonly prepared by the chemical or electrochemical oxidative polymerization of the respective monomers in acidic solution. Other polymerization techniques have also been developed, including: Chemical polymerization, Electrochemical polymerization, Photochemically initiated polymerization, Enzyme-catalyzed polymerization, and Polymerization using electron acceptors. The typical conjugated polymers (CP) with conjugated chain structures include polyacetylene, polypyrrole, polythiophene, PANI and their derivatives. Electrochemical polymerizations are generally performed in organic media, due to the good solubility of the monomers. Nanofibers of poly(acrylonitrile-co-methylacrylate)/polypyrrole core–shell nanoparticles, and polypyrrole/poly(acrylonitrile-co-butyl acrylate) nanoparticles are homogeneously prepared by micro emulsion polymerization. An electrohydrodynamic polymerization technique was introduced for the electrosynthesis of CP/insulating polymer nanocomposites. Electropolymerization is a convenient method to synthesize a thin CP film.
