Those who recognize that our modern life style is dependent, to a large extent, on the use of organic polymers as thermal and elec­ trical insulators, may be surprised to learn that specific plastics may also be used as conductors of electricity. In addition to demon­ strating the versatility of polymers, this use as conductors will lead to developments which were not possible with other available materials of construction. This is a new field which is growing rapidly because of intensive research and developmental efforts by many different industrial, governmental and university investigators. Many of these researchers reported advances in this art at a symposium on conductive polymers sponsored by the American Chemical Society's Division of Organic Coatings and Plastics Chemistry held at the Second Chemical Congress of the North American Continent at Las Vegas, in August 1980. The proceedings of this timely symposium are presented in this book. The editor wishes to take this opportunity to express his grati­ tude to the authors who contributed to this book and to the ACS Organic Coatings and Plastics Division for sponsoring this effort. Raymond B. Seymour Department of Polymer Science University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS 39401 v CONTENTS 1 New Horizons in Conductive Polymers Raymond B. Seymour Synthesis and Characterization of Conductive 7 Palladium Containing Polyimide Films ¿ T.L. Wohlford. J. Schaff. L.T. Taylor.

New Horizons in Conductive Polymers.- Synthesis and Characterization of Conductive Palladium Containing Polyimide Films.- Conductive Polymeric Composites from Short Conductive Fibers.- Metalloplastics - High Conductivity Materials.- Plastics as Current and Heat Conductors.- Synthesis and Characterization of Metallo-Organic Conducting Materials with Tetraazannulenes.- Electrical and Physical Properties of Thin Films Containing Charged Microgel Polymers.- Electrical Properties of Group IV B Metallocene Polyoximes.- Electric Conductivities of Poly(Vinyl Ketone)s Reacted with Phosphoryl Chloride.- Unusual Charge Transfer at a Photoconductor-Copolymer Interface: Its Role in a Novel Particle Migration Microfilm.- Highly Conducting Poly(p-phenylene) via Solid-State Polymerization of Oligomers.- Conducting Complexes of a Processible Polymer: Poly(p-phenylene Sulfide).- Macromolecular Metals and Semiconductors: A Comparative Study.- Electrosynthesis and Study of Conducting Polymeric Films.- Dependence of Polymer Electronic Structure on Molecular Architecture: Polyacetylenes, Polyphenylenes and Polythienylene.- The Effect of Structural Variables on the Conductivity of Iodine Doped Polyacetylene.- Studies in Conducting Polymers.- Cofacial Assembly of Metallomacrocycles: A Molecular Engineering Approach to Electrically Conductive Polymers.- Utilization of Polyacetylene, (CH)x, in the Fabrication of Rechargeable Batteries.