Multifunctional Polymers — An Industrial Perspective

Abstract

This paper overviews, from an industrial viewpoint, the developing unusually broad and many-faceted utility of organic polymeric-based materials, including both emerging technology and product developments, in structural and functional polymers. Included is a positioning of the role and significance of polymers, in the general context of materials development, as an increasingly important enabling technology, with specific identification of materials types, emerging markets and growth rates.

A more detailed discussion focuses on functional organic polymers — and in particular on recent efforts to design more than a single functionality into a molecular structure for various applications. This considers combinations of functions such as nonlinear optical response, piezo- and pyro-electric effects, photoconductivity and electrical conductivity. Issues in molecular design, synthesis, materials characterization, figures of merit and macroscopic materials engineering are considered, along with examples of specific applications.