Sensing of aqueous phosphates by polymers with dual modes of signal transduction

A new approach to sensing of aqueous phosphate-related anions based on chromogenic conductive polymers is demonstrated. This method utilizes synergy between low-level p-doping in a polythiophene polymer and hydrogen bonding to increase anion-sensor affinity. These chromogenic conductive polymers show anion-specific changes both in color and in conductivity upon increasing concentration of anions, thus providing two independent modes of signal transduction.     

Electronic structure and band gaps in cationic heterocyclic oligomers. Multidimensional analysis of the interplay of heteroatoms, substituents, molecular length, and charge on redox and transparency characteristics

Oxidative doping of extended pi-conjugated polymers and oligomers produces dramatic changes in optical and electrical properties, arising from polaron and soliton-derived midgap states. Despite the great importance of such changes for materials properties, far less is known about the cationic polaron states than about the neutral, semiconducting or insulating, undoped materials. The systematic, multifactor computational analysis of oligoheterocycles such as oligothiophenes, oligofurans, and oligopyrroles presented here affords qualitative and quantitative understanding of the interplay among skeletal substitution pattern, electronic structure, and the effective band gap reduction on p-doping. A simple linear relation is derived for predicting p-doped oligomer and polymer effective band gaps based on those of the neutral oligomers; this relationship confirms the effectiveness of a "fixed band" approximation and explains the counterintuitive increase of the effective band gap on p-doping of many small band gap oligomers. The present analysis also suggests new candidates for transparent conductive polymers and predicts limiting behavior of ionization potential, electron affinity, and other properties for various polyheterocyclic systems. The results yield insight into materials constraints in electrochromic polymers as well as on p- and n-type conductors and semiconductors.     

Mechanically Driven Activation of Polyaniline into Its Conductive Form

Mechanical treatment of polymers produces surface cations and anions which, as demonstrated here for the first time, can drive chemical reactions. In particular, it is shown that such a mechanical treatment transforms nonconductive polyaniline into its conductive form. These results provide a mechanical means of patterning conductive polymers and also coating small polymer objects with conductive polyaniline films preventing accumulation of static electricity.     

Photophysical studies of anion-induced colorimetric response and amplified fluorescence quenching in dipyrrolylquinoxaline-containing conjugated polymers

The dipyrrolylquinoxaline (DPQ)-containing monomer and polymers were synthesized and employed as chromogenic and fluorescent chemosensors for inorganic anions. We have found that in the presence of fluoride or pyrophosphate, the receptors do not form hydrogen bonds between the pyrrole protons and anions. The colorimetric responses and fluorescence quenching in these chemosensors are indeed the result of deprotonation of the N-H proton. The anion selectivity is primarily determined by the relative basicity of anions. The sensitivity of DPQ-based chemosensor was found to display a 34-fold enhancement by incorporation into the conjugated polymer. The anion-induced deprotonation generates low-energy, non-fluorescent trapping sites and is responsible for the signal amplification where the quenching of the excited state occurs from the deprotonated DPQ site in the network by rapid exciton migration along the polymeric backbone.     

Beta-functionalised polythiophenes as microelectrode modifiers in low conductive media

A study on polythiophene coated microelectrodes is reported, the goal being that of checking the capability of these electrochemical systems to work in low conductive media. The possibility of electrochemically p-doping the polymer in the presence of very low concentrations or even in the absence of supporting electrolyte in the solution is ascertained, opening the way to the use of similar systems in pure solvent media. This result is obtained in such conditions that the presence of residual charges--and corresponding counterions--trapped inside the film coating can be reasonably hypothesised.     

Recent Progress in the Development of Conducting Polymer‐Based Nanocomposites for Electrochemical Biosensors Applications: A Mini‐Review

Among various immobilizing materials, conductive polymer‐based nanocomposites have been widely applied to fabricate the biosensors, because of their outstanding properties such as excellent electrocatalytic activity, high conductivity, and strong adsorptive ability compared to conventional conductive polymers. Electrochemical biosensors have played a significant role in delivering the diagnostic information and therapy monitoring in a rapid, simple, and low cost portable device. This paper reviews the recent developments in conductive polymer‐based nanocomposites and their applications in electrochemical biosensors. The article starts with a general and concise comparison between the properties of conducting polymers and conducting polymer nanocomposites. Next, the current applications of conductive polymer‐based nanocomposites of some important conducting polymers such as PANI, PPy, and PEDOT in enzymatic and nonenzymatic electrochemical biosensors are overviewed. This review article covers an 8‐year period beginning in 2010.     

Electropolymerizable 2,2'-Carboranyldithiophenes. Structure-Property Investigations of the Corresponding Conducting Polymer Films by Electrochemistry, UV-Visible Spectroscopy and Conducting Probe Atomic Force Microscopy

Carborane-functionalized conducting polymer films have been electrogenerated in dichloromethane from the anodic oxidation of ortho- (1), meta- (3) and para-carborane (4) isomers linked to two 2-thienyl units. The corresponding electrochemical response was characterized by a broad reversible redox system corresponding to the p-doping/undoping of the polythiophene backbone, the formal potential of which increased in the order poly(1) < poly(3) < poly(4), from ca. 0.50 to 1.15 V vs Ag/Ag(+) 10(-2) M. From further UV-visible spectroscopy analysis, the optical band gap was estimated at 1.8, 2.0 and 2.2 eV for poly(1), poly(3) and poly(4), respectively. The more conjugated and electroconductive character of poly(1) is ascribed to a more planar conformation of the conjugated backbone resulting from an intramolecular β-β' cyclization reaction in the monomer, consequently yielding a fused conjugated polymer. Molecular modeling calculations using the DFT method support this hypothesis. The surface topography and maps of the conductive domains of the electropolymerized films were evaluated by conducting probe AFM. The three polymers exhibit fairly similar morphological characteristics and a surface roughness of ~2 nm. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of conducting AFM tip-carborane polymer-ITO junctions showed that poly(1) had the highest conductivity.     

NONCONJUGATED CONDUCTIVE POLYMERS

Conjugation is not a prerequisite for a polymer to be conductive. A polymer must have at least one double bond in the repeat to become conductive. Interaction with a dopant (e.g., electron acceptor) causes transfer of an electron from the double bond to the dopant creating a hole at the double bond site. Electrical conduction occurs via intersite hopping of holes. Various spectroscopic methods (FTIR, optical absorption, solid-state ¹³C NMR, etc.) along with electrical measurements have been used to elucidate the mechanism of conduction in specific nonconjugated conductive polymers. Examples of these polymers include 1,4-polyisoprene which has one double bond and three single bonds in the repeat. The conductivity of polyisoprene increases 100 billion times upon doping with iodine to a maximum value of 10 S/m. Polyisoprene (natural rubber) is used nonconjugated conductive polymers have a wide range of applications in antistatics, various sensors and optoelectronics.     

Synthesis of functionalized asymmetric star polymers containing conductive polyacetylene segments by living anionic polymerization

Novel 3-arm ABC, 4-arm ABCD, and 5-arm ABCDE asymmetric star polymers comprising the conductive polyacetylene precursor, poly(4-methylphenyl vinyl sulfoxide) (PMePVSO), and other segments, such as polystyrene, poly(alpha-methylstyrene), poly(4-methoxystyrene), poly(4-trimethylsilylstyrene), and poly(4-methylstyrene), were synthesized by the methodology based on living anionic polymerization using DPE-functionalized polymers. This methodology involves the addition reaction of a DPE-functionalized polymer to a living anionic polymer followed by the living anionic polymerization of MePVSO initiated from the in situ formed polymer anion with two, three, or four polymer segments. The resultant asymmetric star polymers possessed predetermined molecular weights, narrow molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn < 1.03), and desired compositions as confirmed by SEC, 1H NMR, SLS, and elemental analysis. After thermal treatment, the PMePVSO segment in the star polymer could be completely converted into a conductive polyacetylene segment, evident from TGA and elemental analysis. These asymmetric star polymers are expected to exhibit interesting solution properties and unique microphase-separated morphological suprastructures with potential applications in nanoscopic conductive materials. Moreover, this methodology can afford the target asymmetric star polymers with arm segments varying in a wide range and enables the synthesis of more complex macromolecular architectures.     

Charge carrier transport in heterogeneous conducting polymer materials

The similarities of conductivity mechanisms of composites and nanocomposites and doped conjugated polymers that are also characteristic of specific heterogeneity are discussed. It is shown that the formulae developed to account for internal heterogeneity of conductive polymers can be applied also for polymer composites in spite of low overall content of the conductive phase. For fully organic nanocomposites (reticulate doped polymers) showing metal-like conductivity and a crossover temperature effective contribution of metallic phase is estimated. Examples of different properties of nanoparticles forming conducting networks as compared with the bulk crystals are discussed.     

高分子材料的微波辅助合成研究进展

微波加热以其省时、高效、清洁环保的显著优势而使微波辅助合成成为一种广受欢迎的合成技术。高分子材料的传统合成反应时间长、耗能大。将微波辐射应用于高分子材料的合成可缩短反应时间、降低反应能耗,已成为有机合成领域的研究热点。本文简要综述了微波辅助合成技术在工程材料高分子聚酰胺、聚酰亚胺、聚丙烯酸苄基酯以及在医用功能高分子、吸附功能高分子、导电功能高分子和光学功能高分子合成中的研究进展,并展望了微波辅助合成在高分子材料合成中的发展前景。     

Oxygenation of conducting polymers facilitated by structure-breaking anions

Conducting polymers are an interesting class of materials that can be tuned to have a range of properties through counterion doping. For most conducting polymers, the insertion of anions (the doping process) leads to the formation of carbocations (positive charge carriers) along the conjugated polymer backbone. In this research, we report on a scenario that arises where certain (commonly used) anions in water induce oxygenation of the conducting polymers heteroatom. This is in contrast to the widely reported doping process, and the recently reported hydrolysis of conducting polymers. We observe that the transition between these different conducting polymer-interactions/reactions is well described by the concept of structure-making and structure-breaking anions. Poly(3,4-propylenedioxy thiophene dimethyl) (PProDOT-Me₂), polypyrrole (PPy), and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy thiophene) (PEDOT) thin films are exposed to a range of anions in water. Both PProDOT-Me₂ and PPy are susceptible to oxygenation, while in contrast PEDOT is doped, when exposed to structure-breaking anions. All the polymers show hydrolysis for structure-making anions. The knowledge of the interaction and/or reaction of conducting polymers with anions in water is not only critical to their application in devices for aqueous environments (i.e., sensing), but also for their processing and fabrication using water.     

Enhancement of thermoelectric properties of D-A conjugated polymer through constructing random copolymers with more electronic donors

Developing new D-A conjugated polymer system for thermoelectric (TE) application is highly desirable. Herein, a series of random copolymers by incorporating 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) electron rich units into a diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) D-A conjugated polymer were designed and synthesized. Compared to the alternating conjugated copolymer PDPP-3T, the HOMO level of the random copolymers are increased as part of the electron deficiency acceptor DPP units in the polymer chain were superseded by electron rich EDOT, which could contribute to effective p-doping. Moreover, through incorporating EDOT to construct random copolymers, it can also induce an orientation change from face-on dominated to edge-on dominated orientation as well as enhance the packing of copolymer chains, which is beneficial to the charge transport. Under same doping condition, the electrical conductivities of the doped polymers increase and the Seebeck coefficient decrease as the increasing of EDOT content, resulting in an optimized power factor of 6.4 μW m⁻¹ K⁻² for the random polymer with EDOT content of 40% which is four times higher than that of alternating conjugated copolymer PDPP-3T. These results demonstrated that constructing random copolymers by incorporating more electronic donors into D-A conjugated polymers may be a promising strategy for developing TE conjugated polymers.     

Pulse radiolysis study of formation of poly(4-vinylbiphenyl) anions in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran solution at 100–120 K

The reactions of poly(4-vinylbiphenyl) (denoted as PVB) polymers and biphenyl molecules with solvated electrons in the 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (MTHF) solvent have been studied at 100–120 K by electron-pulse radiolysis. The formation of PVB polymer anions as well as biphenyl anions was observed by the electron-pulse irradiation of the MTHF-PVB(or biphenyl) solution. The anions are formed by two processes; a rapid formation during the pulse irradiation (<20 ns) and a slow formation after the pulse irradiation. The slow formation is due to a diffusion-controlled reaction between solutes, such as PVB and biphenyl, and solvated electrons. It was found that the reaction efficiency, expressed in monomer unit, of PVB polymers is 1/27 of that of biphenyl molecules. The reaction radius for the electron capture reaction of PVB polymers is estimated as 200–370 A, which is much larger than the gyration radius (107 A) of polymer coils in MTHF solution.     

Effect of branched conjugation structure on the optical, electrochemical, hole mobility, and photovoltaic properties of polythiophenes

Four branched polythiophenes (PTs) with different ratios of conjugated terthiophene-vinylene side chains, PT-TThV10 to PT-TThV40, were synthesized by Stille coupling reaction. The polymers exhibited reversible p-doping/dedoping (oxidation/re-reduction) and n-doping/dedoping (reduction/reoxidation) processes. The absorption spectra, hole mobility, and photovoltaic properties of the polymers were much improved in comparison with the PT derivative without the terthiophene-vinylene side chain and were influenced by the content of the conjugated side chains. With the increase of the content of the conjugated side chains, the absorption peak of the branched PTs enhanced and blue-shifted. The maximum hole mobility reached 6.35 x 10(-4) cm2/V.s (SCLC method) and the maximum power conversion efficiency of the polymer solar cell reached 1.91% under the illumination of AM 1.5, 100 mW/cm2, for the polymer with 20% terthiophene-vinylene side chains. The results indicate that the branched PTs with suitable content of the terthiophene-vinylene side chains could be promising photovoltaic materials.     

ELECTROACTIVE AND NANOSTRUCTURED POLYMERS AS SCAFFOLD MATERIALS FOR NEURONAL AND CARDIAC TISSUE ENGINEERING

Conducting polymer, polyaniline （PANI）, has been studied as a novel electroactive and electrically conductive material for tissue engineering applications. The biocompatibility of the conductive polymer can be improved by （i） covalently grafting various adhesive peptides onto the surface of prefabricated conducting polymer films or into the polymer structures during the synthesis, （ii） co-electrospinning or blending with natural proteins to form conducting nanofibers or films, and （iii） preparing conducting polymers using biopolymers, such as collagen, as templates. In this paper, we mainly describe and review the approaches of covalently attaching oligopeptides to PANI and electrospinning PANI-gelatin blend nanofibers. The employment of such modified conducting polymers as substrates for enhanced cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation has been investigated with neuronal PC-12 cells and H9c2 cardiac myoblasts. For the electrospun PANI- gelatin fibers, depending on the concentrations of PANI, H9c2 cells initially displayed different morphologies on the fibrous substrates, but after one week all cultures reached confluence of similar densities and morphologies. Furthermore, we observed, that conductive PANI, when maintained in an aqueous physiologic environment, retained a significant level of electrical conductivity for at least 100 h, even though this conductivity was decreasing over time. Preliminary data show that the application of micro-current stimulates the differentiation of PC-12 cells. All the results demonstrate the potential for using PANI as an electroactive polymer in the culture of excitable cells and open the possibility of using this material as an electroactive scaffold for cardiac and/or neuronal tissue engineering applications that require biocompatibility of conductive polymers.     

从二聚体到长链体系II:含二重螺轴或滑移面的体系

本文考虑了含二重螺轴或滑移面的体系由二聚体构造长链体系定性能带的方法, 讨论了一些有代表性的体系如顺式聚乙炔、扭角不为零的聚对苯撑、聚吡咯及其类似物的导电性问题, 与孤子理论进行了联系, 进一步说明从二聚体可以获得长链体系的信息。     

导电高分子在神经界面电极中的应用

神经界面电极作为人体和外部器件间信息融合的媒介, 为人们进一步探究神经系统高级功能的机制提供了有效工具. 传统的神经电极多以金属和半导体材料为主, 这两类材料因具有惰性材料的特性及优越的 导电性能而成为早期神经电极的主要制备材料, 但由于其刚性过大和光滑表面导致的机械失配及与生物组织间过高的电化学阻抗限制了神经电极的进一步发展. 导电高分子作为一种有机导电材料, 同时具备柔软性 (杨氏模量约在0.01~10 GPa)和导电性(高掺杂度的导电高分子的电导率在金属范围, 10⁰~10⁵ S/cm)的特征, 是制备神经电极的有效材料. 近年来, 人们利用导电高分子材料对传统电极材料进行改性甚至替代, 以提高电极比表面积、 减小界面阻抗, 并提高电极检测的灵敏性; 同时减小电极与组织间的应变失配, 减少炎症反应, 并进一步在导电高分子中引入功能性生物大分子, 减少生物组织对电极的排异反应, 增加电极在体内长期植入的稳定性. 本文讨论和总结了导电高分子材料在神经电极中的应用, 分别对导电高分子作为涂层修饰神经电极、 全导电高分子材料神经电极及导电高分子复合材料神经电极等展开讨论, 分析了导电高分子在神经界面电极中的应用前景及存在的问题, 以期对神经界面电极在脑科学和生物电子医疗等前沿领域的进一步发展提供参考.     

高分子基导电复合材料气敏响应机理研究

高分子基气敏导电材料是近年来发展起来的一种新型功能高分子复合材料.本文介绍了以炭黑(CB)为导电填充剂的复合传感材料的气敏响应机理的体积膨胀模型、结晶模型和氢键模型,并讨论了逾渗阀值、CB及聚合物微观结构与性能、以及CB与聚合物和溶剂三者之间相互作用等因素对该类材料气敏响应性的影响.     

Electrochemical characterization of polyacetylene ionomers and polyelectrolyte-mediated electrochemistry toward interfaces between dissimilarly doped conjugated polymers.

The electrochemical characterization of thin films of the ionically functionalized polyacetylene analogues poly(tetramethylammonium 2-cyclooctatetraenylethanesulfonate) (P(A)) and poly[(2-cyclooctatetraenylethyl)trimethylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate] (P(C)) is reported along with an electrochemical approach to the fabrication of interfaces between dissimilarly doped conjugated polymers. Such interfaces are of interest because of the central role analogous interfaces based on silicon play in conventional microelectronics. The cationically functionalized P(C) can be both oxidatively (p-type) and reductively (n-type) doped to a conductive state, whereas the anionically functionalized P(A) can only be p-type doped. The voltammetry of P(C) displays relatively sharp waves with minimal history or relaxation effects. In contrast, the voltammetry of P(A) exhibits broader doping waves and a dependence on electrochemical history. The apparent formal potentials reported in 0.075 M Me4NBF4/CH3CN were -1.04 V versus SCE for the n-doping of P(C) and 0.40 and 0.30 V versus SCE for the p-doping of P(C) and P(A), respectively. These values depend on electrolyte concentration consistent with a Donnan potential due to the selective partitioning of ions between the electrolyte and polymer. Electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance data demonstrate that the p-type doping of P(A) and the n-type doping of P(C) proceed with the loss of ions from the polymer film and the formation of the internally compensated state. Voltammetry in tetrabutylammonium poly(styrenesulfonate)/CH3CN supporting electrolyte is also reported. It is demonstrated how a polyanion supporting electrolyte in concert with a conjugated ionomer can be used to control redox chemistry by governing the sign of ions available for charge compensation. In particular, we demonstrate the self-limiting oxidation of P(A) to inhibit deleterious overoxidation and prepare the precisely internally compensated state; the selective oxidation of P(A) over P(C), despite their similar apparent formal potentials; and the inhibition of the reoxidation of the n-doped form of P(C). The use of such polyelectrolyte-mediated electrochemistry in the fabrication of interfaces between dissimilarly doped conjugated polymers is discussed.