Recent advances in polypyrrole

Most organic polymers are electrically insulating. Since the first discovery in 1977 that chemical treatment with iodine converts electrically insulating polyacetylene into a highly conducting material with electrical conductivity above 104 S=cm [1], many electrically conducting polymers have been reported. The electrically conducting polymers are able to transfer electrical charges to the same extent as an electrical conductor or a semiconductor. Due to their metal-like conductivity or semiconductivity and other fascinating properties, conducting polymers have played indispensable roles in specialized industrial applications in spite of their short history. However, the major aspect useful for most applications is not the metal-like electrical property itself, but the combination of electrical conductivity and polymeric properties such as flexibility, low density, and ease of structural modification that suffice for many commercial applications.