A foreword from Alan Heeger

Thirty years have gone quickly by since the discovery of conducting polymers, and a decade has passed since the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this discovery. Time flies when you are having fun. The thirty years has gone by all too quickly, but as demonstrated by the contributions to this themed issue, the excitement and innovation continue.

As I stated in the concluding section of my article in this themed issue, semiconducting and metallic polymers are now being used in a variety of innovative applications. Because these electronic polymers can be dissolved in common solvents, they can be formulated as inks—–“inks with electronic functionality”. Gutenberg invented printing in 1545. Today, scientists and engineers in laboratories all over the world are actually printing electronic circuits, they are printing light emitting displays, and they are printing solar cells. The dream of “utility in a wide variety of applications” is coming true.

Nevertheless, much remains to be done, especially in generalizing the fundamental concepts of the field to the relatively complex molecular structures characteristic of the Third Generation of semiconducting polymers. I am confident that the articles contained in this themed issue will serve to stimulate young scientists to take up these challenges and opportunities.

I thank Professor Yung Woo Park for his efforts as Guest Editor of this themed issue, and, of course, I thank all of my friends and colleagues who contributed chapters to this themed issue.

 

Alan Heeger

University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

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Footnote

† Part of the Conducting Polymers for Carbon Electronics themed issue.

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