Thin Polymer Films by Oxidative or Reductive Electropolymerization and Their Application in Electrochromic Windows and Thin-Film Sensors
Ibeth Rendón-Enríquez,
Alex Palma-Cando,
Florian Körber,
Felix Niebisch,
Michael Forster,
Michael W. Tausch,
Ullrich Scherf
Affiliations
Ibeth Rendón-Enríquez
Grupo de Investigación Aplicada en Materiales y Procesos (GIAMP), School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Yachay Tech University, Urcuquí 100119, Ecuador
Alex Palma-Cando
Grupo de Investigación Aplicada en Materiales y Procesos (GIAMP), School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Yachay Tech University, Urcuquí 100119, Ecuador
Florian Körber
Department of Chemistry, Macromolecular Chemistry and Wuppertal Center for Smart Materials @ Systems (CM@S), Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany
Felix Niebisch
Department of Chemistry, Macromolecular Chemistry and Wuppertal Center for Smart Materials @ Systems (CM@S), Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany
Michael Forster
Department of Chemistry, Macromolecular Chemistry and Wuppertal Center for Smart Materials @ Systems (CM@S), Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany
Michael W. Tausch
Department of Chemistry, Chemical Education and Wuppertal Center for Smart Materials @ Systems (CM@S), Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany
Ullrich Scherf
Department of Chemistry, Macromolecular Chemistry and Wuppertal Center for Smart Materials @ Systems (CM@S), Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany
Electrically conducting and semiconducting polymers represent a special and still very attractive class of functional chromophores, especially due to their unique optical and electronic properties and their broad device application potential. They are potentially suitable as materials for several applications of high future relevance, for example flexible photovoltaic modules, components of displays/screens and batteries, electrochromic windows, or photocatalysts. Therefore, their synthesis and structure elucidation are still intensely investigated. This article will demonstrate the very fruitful interplay of current electropolymerization research and its exploitation for science education issues. Experiments involving the synthesis of conducting polymers and their assembly into functional devices can be used to teach basic chemical and physical principles as well as to motivate students for an innovative and interdisciplinary field of chemistry.
