Organic polymers consist of extremely large molecules, and, like other molecular substances, they usually do not conduct electricity. Polyvinyl chloride and other polymers find many applications as electrical insulators--protecting us from electric currents, not carrying them. However, judicious choices of molecular structure and special processing have produced a few organic polymers whose conductivities approach those of metals. To honor the original discovery of electrically conductive polymers, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2000 to Alan J. Heeger, University of California at Santa Barbara, Alan J. MacDiarmid, University of Pennsylvania, and Hideki Shirakawa, University of Tsukuba, Japan.
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Citation
Moore, John W. J. Chem. Educ.2001 78 8.
Keywords
Conductivity; History / Philosophy; Polymer Chemistry; Public Understanding
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