Conducting polymer-hydrogels for medical electrode applications

Abstract

Conducting polymers hold significant promise as electrode coatings; however, they are characterized by inherently poor mechanical properties. Blending or producing layered conducting polymers with other polymer forms, such as hydrogels, has been proposed as an approach to improving these properties. There are many challenges to producing hybrid polymers incorporating conducting polymers and hydrogels, including the fabrication of structures based on two such dissimilar materials and evaluation of the properties of the resulting structures. Although both fabrication and evaluation of structure–property relationships remain challenges, materials comprised of conducting polymers and hydrogels are promising for the next generation of bioactive electrode coatings.     

Conducting Polymers with Confined Dimensions: Track‐Etch Membranes for Amperometric Biosensor Applications

Organic conducting polymers can be synthesized inside the pores of a track‐etch membrane, and the resulting hollow tubules are shown to have enhanced electrical properties compared to their corresponding bulk materials. The polymerization of monomers (e.g., pyrrole, thiophenes) inside the confined space of these pores, combined with electrostatic interaction, ensures the alignment of the organic polymers on the interior, leading to higher conductivity. The application of these conducting tubes in the development of amperometric glucose sensors is discussed. Due to the special properties of conducting polymers inside a track‐etch membrane, biosensors with a unique electron‐transfer mechanism have been developed.     

Functionalised hybrid materials of conducting polymers with individual wool fibers

Composites of natural protein materials, such as merino wool, with the conducting polymers polypyrrole (PPy) and polyaniline (PAn) have been successfully synthesised. In doing so, hybrid materials have been produced in which the mechanical strength and flexibility of the fibers is retained whilst also incorporating the desired chemical and electrical properties of the polymer. Scanning electron microscopy shows PPy coatings to comprise individual polymer spheres, approximately 100 to 150 nm in diameter. The average size of the polymer spheres of PAn was observed to be approximately 50 to 100 nm in diameter. These spheres fuse together in a continuous sheet to coat the fibers in their entirety. The reduction of silver ions to silver metal nanoparticles onto the redox active polymer surface has also been successful and thus imparts anti-microbial properties to the hybrid materials. This gives rise to further applications requiring the inhibition of microbial growth. The chemical and physical characterisation of such products has been undertaken through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), electrical conductivity, cyclic voltammetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the testing of their anti-microbial activity.     

碳/导电聚合物复合电极材料的研究进展

阐述了碳材料和导电聚合物作为超级电容器电极材料的研究进展,对比了其电化学性能,尤其是碳纳米管与聚苯胺、聚吡咯的复合材料。这些材料虽在超级电容器应用方面取得了一些突破,但在循环寿命、聚合物易脱落等方面仍存在问题,另外碳纳米管昂贵的价格也限制了其在工业上的应用。展望了一种柔性石墨纸作基体复合导电聚合物的新型复合材料,在电化学性能方面也取得了很好的效果。     

Inherently conducting polymer nanostructures

Inherently conducting polymers (ICPs) have been an area of intense interest over the past 30 years, culminating with the award of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to MacDiarmid, Heeger and Shirakawa. More recently the unique properties of these materials (e.g., higher conductivity, more rapid discrete electrochemical switching processes) apparent at the nanodimension have become accessible. Significant breakthroughs in synthesis and fabrication of inherently conducting polymers with nanodimensional control have made this possible. This review aims to discuss some of the synthetic approaches researchers have made in an attempt to probe the nano domain as well as some of the property enhancements afforded to these structures.     

Conjugated Polymer Actuators and Devices: Progress and Opportunities

Conjugated polymers (CPs), as exemplified by polypyrrole, are intrinsically conducting polymers with potential for development as soft actuators or “artificial muscles” for numerous applications. Significant progress has been made in the understanding of these materials and the actuation mechanisms, aided by the development of physical and electrochemical models. Current research is focused on developing applications utilizing the advantages that CP actuators have (e.g., low driving potential and easy to miniaturize) over other actuating materials and on developing ways of overcoming their inherent limitations. CP actuators are available as films, filaments/yarns, and textiles, operating in liquids as well as in air, ready for use by engineers. Here, the milestones made in understanding these unique materials and their development as actuators are highlighted. The primary focus is on the recent progress, developments, applications, and future opportunities for improvement and exploitation of these materials, which possess a wealth of multifunctional properties.     

Light‐Emitting Polythiophenes

Polythiophenes are one of the most important classes of conjugated polymers, with a wide range of applications, such as conducting films, electrochromics, and field‐effect transistors, which have been the subject of a number of older and more recent reviews. Much less attention has been paid to the light‐emitting properties of this class of materials, although their unique properties present a number of opportunities unavailable from more popular polymeric light emitters such as polyfluorene or poly(p‐phenylene vinylene). This article reviews achievements to date in applications of thiophene‐based polymers and oligomers as electroluminescent materials. We demonstrate the basic principles of controlling the optical properties of polythiophenes through structural modifications and review the most important light‐emitting materials created from thiophene derivatives. Special attention is paid to consequences of structural variations on the performance of light‐emitting diodes fabricated with these materials.     

Hybrid nanocomposite materials for energy storage and conversion applications

Functional Hybrid materials based on conducting polymers and inorganic photo-electroactive species provide a wealth of opportunities for the development of novel materials with improved properties. Polyoxometalates are one type of well-known inorganic species with most interesting photo-electrochemical activity. They are perfect models for nanometer-sized oxide quantum-dots both concerning structure, topology and electrochemical and photochemical properties. Yet, they have not been applied as materials because of their molecular nature (i.e., soluble in most solvents or electrolytes). In our group we have recently developed a research line dealing with the integration of these fascinating clusters in conducting polymer matrices to yield functional hybrid materials. Our past emphasis was on electroactivity for energy-storage applications but these materials can also be used, as it is shown here, for photoelectrochemical applications.     

Ion Beam Modified Polyimide

Altough no polymers are intrinsic conductors, conjugated polymers have been shown to become conducting when heavily doped. However, advances are still needed to achieve both the high stability and conductivity required in most applications. Photon, plasma and ion beam processing of organic materials offer opportunities to induce new properties (e.g. insulating or conducting) in organic precursors. Plasma treatments have led to the remarkable development of diamond-like film synthesis. This contribution is a review of the recent advances in ion bea modified polyimides, a new variety of high-performance conducting polymers. Related effects like metal-adhesion enhancement will also be discussed.     

Conjugated polymers as robust carriers for controlled delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs

Conjugated polymers due to their reversible transition between the redox states are potentially able to immobilise and release ionic species. In this study, we have successfully developed a conducting polymer system based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) for electrically triggered, local delivery of an ionic form of ibuprofen (IBU), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, and analgesic drug. It was shown that by changing the electropolymerisation conditions, the polymer matrix of specified IBU content can be synthesised. The electrochemical synthesis has been optimised to obtain the conducting matrix with the highest possible drug content. The process of electrically stimulated drug release has been extensively studied in terms of the dynamics of the controlled IBU release under varying conditions. The maximum concentration of the released IBU, 0.66 (±0.10) mM, was observed at the applied potential E = ?0.5 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). It was demonstrated that the immobilisation-release procedure can be repeated several times making the PEDOT matrix promising materials for controlled drug release systems applied e.g. in neuroprosthetics.     

Supramolecular polymers at work

Sophisticated polymeric materials with ‘responsive’ properties are beginning to reach the market. The use of reversible, noncovalent interactions is a recurring design principle for responsive materials. Now, recently developed hydrogen-bonding units allow this design principle to be taken to its extreme. Supramolecular polymers, where hydrogen bonds are the only force keeping the monomers together, form materials whose (mechanical) properties respond strongly to a change in temperature or solvent. In this review, we describe the developments that have led to hydrogen-bonded supramolecular polymers and discuss the use of these materials in advanced applications.     

导热高分子材料的研究与应用

介绍了金属材料、非金属材料、高分子材料的导热机理,以及导热填料搀杂高分子材料的导热理论模型。综述了各种高导热填料的研究进展和它们在导热高分子材料中的应用情况。最后提出了导热高分子材料的研究方向。     

导电聚合物在纳米太阳能电池中的应用研究

导电聚合物以其特殊的性质及种种优点而越来越广泛地应用于光电化学太阳能电池,文中主要介绍了导电聚合物作为全固态太阳能电池的电解质以及作为纳米光电化学太阳能电池敏化剂的应用研究。     

Conducting polymers in electronic chemical sensors

Conducting organic polymers have found two main kinds of application in electronics so far: as materials for construction of various devices and as selective layers in chemical sensors. In either case, interaction with ambient gases is critical. It may compromise the performance of a device based on conducting polymers, whereas it is beneficial in a sensor. Conductivity has been the primary property of interest. Work function--related to conductivity, but in principle a different property--has received only scant attention. Our aim here is to discuss the usability of conducting polymers in both types of electronic applications in light of these two parameters.     

Synergetic effect of conducting polymer composites reinforced E-glass fabric for the control of electromagnetic radiations

The use of fibril materials as substrate for reinforcing polymers has wide industrial applications. In this article, we discuss polyaniline and polypyrrole as conducting polymers to provide electronic conductivity in E-glass fabric reinforced conducting composite with varied degree of composition and conductivity using industrially important polymers polymethylmethacrylate and polyvinyl chloride as a host matrix. Aromatic sulphonic acids such as PXSA, OXSA, PSA, PDSA, RDSA, OCPSA and MCSA were used as a dopant. The influence of the aromatic ring substituents in these dopants over the conductivity and processibility due to various interactions has been studied. The study shows that due to bulk nature of conductivity, shielding effectiveness (SE) increases with increase in conductivity and thickness of a composite. The test samples were characterized by conductivity and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMI SE). The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness was measured by co-axial transmission line method in the frequency range of 0.01–1000 MHz. These composites with both side shielded by polypyrrole offered a uniform shielding effectiveness of 69 dB.     

Influence of substituents in electrochemical and conducting properties of polyaniline derivatives and multi walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites

Poly(o-methoxyaniline) and poly(o-methylaniline) were synthesized by oxidative polymerization in the presence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) for the fabrication of chloroform processable nanocomposites obtained by embedding MWNT in the polymer matrix without the formation of covalent bonds. The study of pressure-area isotherms highlighted different substituents along the aromatic rings affected the packing grade of macromolecules when spreading on different subphases in relation to the associated sterical hindrance. The presence of MWNT inside the polymer matrix showed to favor a more stretched conformation of macromolecules with a subsequent increment of area/molecule values with respect to the corresponding pure conducting polymers. Furthermore, the sterical hindrance affected the nanocomposite electrochemical properties and conducting polymers containing less hindering substituents along the aromatic rings turned out to be faster electrochemical systems. Less hindering substituents were also able to enhance the conducting properties of nanocomposite materials in association with MWNT.     

Nanocomposites based on conducting polymers and carbon nanotubes: from fancy materials to functional applications

This review deals with recent progress on the development of nanocomposite materials formed by conducting organic polymers (COPs) and carbon nanotubes (CNs), both from a fundamental and applied point of view. The combination of the unique properties of CNs with COPs makes of these materials interesting multifunctional systems with great potential in many applications such as supercapacitors, sensors, photovoltaic cells and photodiodes, optical limiting devices, solar cells, high-resolution printable conductor, electromagnetic absorbers, and, last but not least, advanced transistors.     

Polypyrrole-based conducting polymers and interactions with biological tissues

Polypyrrole (PPy) is a conjugated polymer that displays particular electronic properties including conductivity. In biomedical applications, it is usually electrochemically generated with the incorporation of any anionic species including also negatively charged biological macromolecules such as proteins and polysaccharides to give composite materials. In biomedical research, it has mainly been assessed for its role as a reporting interface in biosensors. However, there is an increasing literature on the application of PPy as a potentially electrically addressable tissue/cell support substrate. Here, we review studies that have considered such PPy based conducting polymers in direct contact with biological tissues and conclude that due to its versatile functional properties, it could contribute to a new generation of biomaterials.