Although research on conducting polymers started in Australia in 1963, the work was considered so important that the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three of the leading researchers - Alan J. Heeger, Alan G. MacDiarmid and Hideki Shirakawa - for the discovery and development of conducting polymers.
The common belief was that plastics, unlike metals, do not conduct electricity. Yet the prize-winning researchers demonstrated that plastic can, under certain circumstances, behave like a metal. To become electrically conductive, polymers (ie. plastics) must consist alternately of single and double bonds between the atoms. Electrons must be removed or introduced, creating extra electrons that can move along the molecule.
Conducting polymers are used for anti-static substances for photographic film, shields for computer screens and for “smart” windows (than can exclude sunlight). Semi-conductive polymers have recently been developed in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells and used as a display in mobile phones and small TV screens.
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