Reversible electrochemical doping of conjugated polymers

Claim 2

A reversible electrochemical method for modifying the electrical conductivity properties of a conjugated polymer having conjugated unsaturation along its main back bone chain and which is dopable with a cationic dopant to a more highly electrically conducting state, comprising the steps of: a) providing an electrochemical cell comprising an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, said cathode including said conjugated polymer as its cathode-active material, said electrolyte comprising a compound which is ionizable into an organic cationic dopant of R 4-x MH x + and R3E+, wherein R is alkyl or aryl, M is N, P or As, E is 0 or S, and x is 0 or an integer ranging from 1 to 4; b) operating said electrochemical cell so as to effect a change in the oxidation state of said polymer whereby said polymer becomes doped with said organic cationic dopant; and c) coordinating and controlling the degree of change effected in said oxidation state of said polymer and the dopant concentration in said electrolyte so that the corresponding degree of doping will be such as to provide the resulting doped polymer with said preselected room temperature n-type electrical conductivity.

Claim 3

A reversible electrochemical method for modifying the electrical conductivity properties of a conjugated polymer having conjugated unsaturation along its main back bone chain and which is dopable with a cationic dopant to a more highly electrically conducting state, comprising the steps of: a) providing a voltaic cell comprising an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, said cathode including said conjugated polymer as its cathode-active material, said anode including as its anode--active material a metal whose Pauling electronegativity value is no greater than 1.0, and said electrolyte comprising a compound which is ionizable into said cationic dopant; b) operating said voltaic cell so as to effect a change in the oxidation state of said polymer, whereby said polymer becomes doped with said cationic dopant to a degree dependent upon the degree of change effected in said oxidation state of said polymer and the dopant concentration in said electrolyte; and c) coordinating and controlling the degree of change effected in said oxidation state of said polymer and the dopant concentration in said electrolyte so that the corresponding degree of doping will be such as to provide the resulting doped polymer with said preselected room temperature n-type electrical conductivity.

Claim 4

A reversible electrochemical method for modifying the electrical conductivity properties of a conjugated polymer having conjugated unsaturation along its main back bone chain and which is dopable with a cationic dopant to a more highly electrically conducting state, comprising the steps of: a) providing a voltaic cell comprising an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, said cathode including said conjugated polymer as its cathode-active material, said anode including as its anode--active material a metal whose Pauling electronegativity value is no greater than 1.0, and said electrolyte comprising a compound which is ionizable into said cationic dopant; b) operating said voltaic cell so as to effect a change in the oxidation state of said polymer, whereby said polymer becomes doped with said cationic dopant to a degree dependent upon the degree of change effected in said oxidation state of said polymer and the dopant concentration in said electrolyte; and c) coordinating and controlling the degree of change effected in said oxidation state of said polymer and the dopant concentration in said electrolyte so that the corresponding degree of doping will be such as to provide the resulting doped polymer with said preselected room temperature n-type electrical conductivity.

Claim 5

A reversible electrochemical method for simultaneously effecting modification of the electrical conductivity properties of a conjugated polymer having conjugated unsaturation along its main back bone chain and which is dopable with ionic dopant to a more highly electrically conducting state, comprising the steps of: a) providing an electrolytic cell comprising an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, said anode including said polymer as its anode-active material, said cathode including said polymer as its cathode-active material, and said electrolyte comprising a compound which is ionizable into an anionic dopant and a cationic dopant, b) operating said electrolytic cell so as to effect a change in the oxidation states of said polymer, whereby said anode-active polymer becomes doped with said anionic dopant to a p-type electrically conducting material and said cathode-active polymer becomes doped with said cationic dopant to an n-type electrically conducting material; and c) coordinating and controlling the degree of change effected in the oxidation states of said electrode-active polymers and the dopant concentration in said electrolyte so that the corresponding degree of doping will be such as to provide the resulting doped polymers with said preselected room temperature electrical conductivity.

Claim 6

A reversible electrochemical method for simultaneously effecting modification of the electrical conductivity properties of a conjugated polymer having conjugated unsaturation along its main back bone chain and which is dopable with ionic dopant to a more highly electrically conducting state, comprising the steps of: a) providing an electrolytic cell comprising an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, said anode including said polymer as its anode-active material, said cathode including said polymer as its cathode-active material, and said electrolyte comprising a compound which is ionizable into an anionic dopant and a cationic dopant, b) operating said electrolytic cell so as to effect a change in the oxidation states of said polymer, whereby said anode-active polymer becomes doped with said anionic dopant to a p-type electrically conducting material and said cathode-active polymer becomes doped with said cationic dopant to an n-type electrically conducting material; and c) coordinating and controlling the degree of change effected in the oxidation states of said electrode-active polymers and the dopant concentration in said electrolyte so that the corresponding degree of doping will be such as to provide the resulting doped polymers with said preselected room temperature electrical conductivity.

Claim 12

An n-type electrically conducting polymeric material comprising a conjugated polymer doped to a controlled degree with a cationic dopant species characterized in that the conjugated polymer is doped with a non-metallic dopant cation selected from the group consisting of R 4-x MH x + and R 3 E + , wherein R is alkyl or aryl, M is N, P or As, E is 0 or S, and x is 0 or an integer ranging from 1 to 4 according to the method of claim 6.