Editing Conductive polymer (section)

==History==
Polyaniline was first described in the mid-19th century by [[Henry Letheby]], who investigated the electrochemical and chemical oxidation products of aniline in acidic media. He noted that the reduced form was colourless but the oxidized forms were deep blue.<ref name="Inzelt-history">{{cite book | series = Monographs in Electrochemistry | title = Conducting Polymers: A New Era in Electrochemistry | first = György | last = Inzelt | editor-first = F. | editor-last = Scholz | publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] | date = 2008 | pages = 265–267 | chapter = Chapter 8: Historical Background (Or: There Is Nothing New Under the Sun) | isbn = 978-3-540-75929-4 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4rFDAzo5lPQC&pg=PA264}}</ref>

The first highly-conductive organic compounds were the [[charge transfer complex]]es.<ref name="firsthalfcentury">{{cite journal|doi=10.1196/annals.1292.016|title=An Overview of the First Half-Century of Molecular Electronics|date=2003|last1=Hush|first1=Noel S.|journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences|volume=1006|issue=1|pmid=14976006|bibcode=2003NYASA1006....1H|pages=1–20|s2cid=24968273}}</ref> In the 1950s, researchers reported that polycyclic aromatic compounds formed semi-conducting charge-transfer complex salts with halogens.<ref name=Ullmann/> In 1954, researchers at Bell Labs and elsewhere reported organic charge transfer complexes with [[resistivities]] as low as 8 [[Ohm|Ω]].cm.<ref name=Okamoto/><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/173168a0 | title = Electrical Conductivity of the Perylene–Bromine Complex | date = 1954 | last1 = Akamatu | first1 = Hideo | last2 = Inokuchi | first2 = Hiroo | last3 = Matsunaga | first3 = Yoshio | journal = Nature | volume = 173 | issue = 4395 | pages = 168–169|bibcode = 1954Natur.173..168A | s2cid = 4275335 }}</ref> In the early 1970s, researchers demonstrated salts of [[tetrathiafulvalene]] show<ref name="UTD">{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/ja00784a066|title=Electron transfer in a new highly conducting donor-acceptor complex|date=1973|last1=Ferraris|first1=JohnS|journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society|volume=95|pages=948–949|last2=Cowan|first2=D. O.|last3=Walatka|first3=V.|last4=Perlstein|first4=J. H.|issue=3|bibcode=1973JAChS..95..948F }}</ref> almost metallic conductivity, while superconductivity was demonstrated in 1980. Broad research on salts of charge transfer complexes continues today. While these compounds were technically not polymers, this indicated that organic compounds can carry current. While organic conductors were previously intermittently discussed, the field was particularly energized by the prediction of [[superconductivity]]<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.134.A1416|title=Possibility of Synthesizing an Organic Superconductor|date=1964|last1=Little|first1=W. A.|journal=Physical Review|volume=134|pages=A1416–A1424|issue=6A|bibcode = 1964PhRv..134.1416L }}</ref> following the discovery of [[BCS theory]].

In 1963 Australians B.A. Bolto, D.E. Weiss, and coworkers reported derivatives of [[polypyrrole]] with resistivities as low as 1 Ω.cm. There have been multiple reports of similar high-conductivity oxidized polyacetylenes.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.drproctor.com/os/weisspaper.pdf|author1=Bolto, B.A. |author2=McNeill, R. |author3=Weiss, D.E.  |title=Electronic Conduction in Polymers. III. Electronic Properties of Polypyrrole|journal= Australian Journal of Chemistry |volume=16|issue=6|pages=1090|year= 1963|doi=10.1071/ch9631090}}</ref><ref name=Okamoto>Okamoto, Yoshikuko and Brenner, Walter (1964) "Polymers", Ch. 7, pp. 125–158 in ''Organic Semiconductors''. Reinhold</ref> With the notable exception of [[charge transfer complex]]es (some of which are even [[superconductor]]s), organic molecules were previously considered insulators or at best weakly conducting [[semiconductors]]. Subsequently, DeSurville and coworkers reported high conductivity in a polyaniline.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0013-4686(68)80071-4|title=Electrochemical chains using protolytic organic semiconductors|date=1968|last1=De Surville|first1=R.|last2=Jozefowicz|first2=M.|last3=Yu|first3=L.T.|last4=Pepichon|first4=J.|last5=Buvet|first5=R.|journal=Electrochimica Acta|volume=13|pages=1451–1458|issue=6}}</ref> Likewise, in 1980, Diaz and Logan reported films of polyaniline that can serve as electrodes.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0022-0728(80)80081-7|title=Electroactive polyaniline films|date=1980|last1=Diaz|first1=A|last2=Logan|first2=J|journal=Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry|volume=111|pages=111–114}}</ref>

While mostly operating at the scale of less than 100 nanometers, "molecular" electronic processes can collectively manifest on a macro scale. Examples include [[quantum tunneling]], [[negative resistance]], [[phonon]]-assisted hopping and [[polaron]]s. In 1977, [[Alan J. Heeger]], [[Alan MacDiarmid]] and [[Hideki Shirakawa]] reported similar high conductivity in oxidized iodine-doped polyacetylene.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1039/C39770000578|title=Synthesis of electrically conducting organic polymers: Halogen derivatives of polyacetylene, (CH) x|date=1977|last1=Shirakawa|first1=Hideki|last2=Louis|first2=Edwin J.|last3=MacDiarmid|first3=Alan G.|last4=Chiang|first4=Chwan K.|last5=Heeger|first5=Alan J.|journal=Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications|issue=16|page=578|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA041866.pdf|access-date=2018-04-29|archive-date=2017-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925014126/http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA041866|url-status=live}}</ref> For this research, they were awarded the 2000 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] ''"for the discovery and development of conductive polymers."''<ref name="nobel">{{cite web| url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2000/index.html | title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000 | access-date=2009-06-02}}</ref> Polyacetylene itself did not find practical applications, but drew the attention of scientists and encouraged the rapid growth of the field.<ref name="Inzelt-history" /> Since the late 1980s, [[OLED|organic light-emitting diodes]] (OLEDs) have emerged as an important application of conducting polymers.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{ cite journal | title = Electroluminescence in conjugated polymers | journal = Nature | volume = 397 | pages = 121–128 | date = 1999 | doi = 10.1038/16393 |bibcode = 1999Natur.397..121F | issue = 6715 | last1 = Friend | first1 = R. H. | last2 = Gymer | first2 = R. W. | last3 = Holmes | first3 = A. B. | last4 = Burroughes | first4 = J. H. | last5 = Marks | first5 = R. N. | last6 = Taliani | first6 = C. | last7 = Bradley | first7 = D. D. C. | last8 = Santos | first8 = D. A. Dos | last9 = Brdas | first9 = J. L. | last10 = Lgdlund | first10 = M. | last11 = Salaneck | first11 = W. R. | s2cid = 4328634 }}</ref>