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Site-selective anisotropic modification of conductive objects by bipolar electropolymerization

Abstract

This review focuses on recent developments in electropolymerization that use bipolar electrochemistry. A bipolar electrode (BPE), which is driven under the influence of an electric field, can be used for electrochemical reactions with interesting features such as wireless and site-selective reactions. In this context, bipolar electropolymerization is a powerful method for wirelessly achieving site-selective anisotropic modification of BPEs with conducting polymers. In addition, alternating current (AC) bipolar electropolymerization was developed to induce conducting polymer fibers from the terminals of BPEs that propagate parallel to the direction of the electric field. Bipolar electropolymerization is a class of next-generation electropolymerization for obtaining hybrid materials of conducting polymers and conductive objects.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Kakenhi Grant-in-Aid (No. JP17H03095) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the Murata Science Foundation, and Casio Science Promotion Foundation.

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Correspondence to Shinsuke Inagi.

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Inagi, S. Site-selective anisotropic modification of conductive objects by bipolar electropolymerization. Polym J 51, 975–981 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-019-0223-2

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