What is the simplest conducting polymer?

Answer 1

That probably refers to a polymer that either (a) is a good conductor or heat, or (b) is a good conductor of electricity. Usually the second choice is the most likely meaning, if nothing else is specified.

Answer 2

A conductive polymer is a polymer that is capable of conducting electricity. Most polymers are insulators, meaning they do not conduct electricity well-- conductive polymers, however, have chains with a special arrangement of bonds (called conjugation) along their backbone that allow allow electrons to move more or less freely along their length. There is still a lot to learn about conductive polymers, but they are well-studied materials due to the promise of creating organic electronics, which are circuits made partially or entirely out of plastic materials-- these materials would have certain advantages over silicon electronics, such as weight, flexibility, and high-throughput processing techniques.

Answer 3

At first, if polymers are described briefly, they are large molecules made out of simpler molecules which is known as the 'monomer'. The most common example for a polymer is 'Polyethene' (polythene) which is made up from the monomer ethene; H>C=C

Many of the polymers that are synthesized for various purposes are strong insulators. But, with the increasing needs of human needs, research was done to synthesize conducting polymers. Among the benefits of conducting polymers are the less mass (or more generally weight) than metals, and the lesser cost to manufacture wires from polymers than from pure metals.

The simplest organic polymer which is capable of conducting electricity is 'Polyacetylene'. As the name implies, it is made out of the monomer acetylene, (which the welders use along with oxygen). It should be mentioned that ONLYtrans-polyacetelene has the conducting behavior.

There are many other simple polymers as polythiophene, poly(p-phenylene), polyphyrrol etc. Refer to the 'Basics of Conducting Polymers' for further information.

One of the common features of the conducting polymers are the neighboring p-orbitals, which can overlap altogether and create molecular orbitals with an immense volume with respect to atomic orbitals, with 'delocalized' electrons (such as in graphite which is itself a conductor of electricity).

Answer 4

The simplest conducting polymer is polyaniline, which is a highly conductive polymer that can be easily synthesized and has applications in electronic devices and sensors.