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The Bromine Doping of Polyacetylene

Published

Author(s)

C. K. Chiang

Abstract

The first doping experiment of polyacetylene performed by Chiang and Shirakawa in 1976 is described. The first successful doping experiment of polyacetylene impacted physics and chemistry in three aspects: 1) discovery of metallic conducting synthetic organic polymers; 2) direct verification of doping concept in organic polymers; 3) vivid demonstration of doping method for organic polymer. It was truly a seminal experiment that opened the door to conducting polymers. After the experiment, the fourth generation of polymer materials was developed. While the molecular formula may be very simple, polyacetylene provided sufficient complexity and continued to be a complex model system not only for polymer science but also for quantum physics.Soliton theories based on its simple but unique 1-D structure inspired many new quantum concepts for those more complicated conducting polymers. The studies of model complex polymers could lead to better understanding of the quantum electronic devices at the molecular level.
Citation
Physica A-Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications
Volume
321
Issue
No. 1-2

Keywords

conducting polymers, doping polyactylene, Nobel Prize, one-dimensional

Citation

Chiang, C. (2003), The Bromine Doping of Polyacetylene, Physica A-Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852069 (Accessed April 26, 2024)
Created April 1, 2003, Updated February 19, 2017