Epitome of Fullerene in Conducting Polymeric Nanocomposite—Fundamentals and Beyond

ABSTRACT

Conducting polymer comprises main chain of π-conjugation system and semiconducting properties. In addition to electrical conductivity, conducting polymer owns fine structural, chemical, and thermal stability features. Inclusion of nanoparticles have found to further enhance physical characteristics of conjugated polymer. Among nanocarbon nanofillers, fullerene has been reconnoitered to develop high performance conductive polymeric matrices. Accordingly, this review essentially presents progresses in field of conducting polymer and fullerene based nanocomposite. Common conjugated polymers used with fullerene include polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiophene, and derivatives. Applications of conjugated polymer/fullerene nanocomposite have been observed in energy and electronics sectors such as solar cell, supercapacitor, sensors, etc.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Conducting
• polymer
• fullerene
• polyaniline
• polypyrrole
• polythiophene
• energy
• electronics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ayesha Kausar

Ayesha Kausar works for National Centre for Physics, Islamabad, Pakistan. She previously worked for Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan and National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. She obtained her PhD from Quaid-i-Azam University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea. Dr. Kausar’s current research interests include the design, fabrication, characterization, and exploration of structure-property relationships and potential prospects of nanocomposites, polymeric nanocomposites, polymeric composites, polymeric nanoparticles, polymer dots, nanocarbon materials (graphene and derivatives, carbon nanotube, nanodiamond, graphene, carbon nano-onion, carbon nanocoil, carbon nanobelt, carbon nanodisk, carbon dot, and other nanocarbons), hybrid materials, eco-friendly materials, nanocomposite nanofibers, and nano-foam architectures. Consideration of morphological, mechanical, thermal, electrical, anti-corrosion, barrier, flame retardant, radiation shielding, biomedical, and other essential materials properties for aerospace, automotive, fuel cell membranes, Li-ion battery electrodes, electronics, sensors, solar cells, water treatment, gas separation, textiles, energy production and storage devices, biomaterials, and other technical relevance are among her notable research concerns.