ABSTRACT
Figure 2.1 Illustration of a monomer and several types/forms of polymers. Polymers are mainly used for their structural properties, be it the elasticity of plastic food wrap or the hard yet light and easily moldable plastic parts in a car. The idea of utilizing the electrically conducting properties of polymers was proposed as early as in the 1960s, and since then polymers have been used as active components in a variety of electronic applications. For instance, carbon-and metal-filled polymers are used as moldable semiconductors in the electronics industry, and polymers and organic molecules long have served as photoreceptors in electrophotographic copying machines. In this chapter, however, we mainly will concentrate on a particular class of electronic polymers, the so-called π-conjugated polymers.
