HETEROGENEOUS CONDUCTING POLYMERIC SYSTEMS - DISPERSIONS, BLENDS, CRYSTALLINE CONDUCTING NETWORKS - AN INTRODUCTORY PRESENTATION

The preparation and properties of fully organic heterogeneous conducting systems are briefly presented. The comparison of specific properties of mechanical blends of conducting crystals with inert polymers, of conducting latices in film-forming polymers, of conducting polymer blends and reticulate doped polymers (RDPs) is shown. Several advantages of RDPs include very low percolation threshold, bulk, surface and highly anisotropic conductivity, transparency and optical anisotropy. The latter composites are obtained by well-mastered casting technologies, thus a wide range of applications including those expected for conducting latices in film-forming polymers is possible.