Research Progress in Electrical Properties of Polythiophene,Polythiophene Derivatives and Polythiophene Based Composites

The chemical structure,preparation,polymerization mechanism and conducting mechanism of polythiophene and its derivatives are introduced.The research progress in electrical properties of polythiophene,polythiophene derivatives and polythiophene based composites is reviewed.These studies indicate that the virgin polythiophene and its derivatives exhibit relatively low electrical conductivity and that their electrical conductivity can be increased by doping.The virgin polythiophene and its derivatives usually have high Seebeck coefficient and very low thermal conductivity.Therefore,composite materials consisting of thermoelectric inorganic nanostructures and polymer can inhe-rit the properties of both the inorganic nanostructures and the polymer and may have synergistic effect as well,which can result in the composites with good thermoelectric properties.