Protonic acids: Generally applicable dopants for conducting polymers

Abstract

Non-oxidizing protonic acids have been found to be effective dopants for a wide range of conjugated polymers. A relationship is found between acid strength and ionization potential of a conjugated polymer that will give a highly-conductive doped complex. The mechanism of protonic acid doping appears to involve direct protonation of the polymer backbone followed by an internal redox process that gives polarons as the predominate charge defects. Non-oxidizing protonic acid doping of conjugated polymers now appears to be a general phenomenon that occurs by a mechanism similar to that proposed for protonic acid doping of polyaniline. © 1989.