Syntheticmetals,alsoknownasconductingpolymers,areaclassofmaterialsthatexhibitmetallic-likeelectricalconductivitywhileretainingthemechanicalpropertiesoftraditionalpolymers.Unlikeconventionalmetals,whicharenaturallyoccurringelements,syntheticmetalsareman-madethroughchemicalorelectrochemicalprocesses.Thesematerialsaretypicallyorganicpolymerswithconjugateddoublebondsintheirmolecularstructure,enablingthedelocalizationofelectronsandfacilitatingchargetransport.Examplesincludepolyacetylene,polypyrrole,polythiophene,andpolyaniline.Whendopedwithoxidizingorreducingagents,theirconductivitycanincreasesignificantly,sometimesreachinglevelscomparabletometals.Syntheticmetalsfindapplicationsinvariousfields,suchasflexibleelectronics,antistaticcoatings,sensors,batteries,andorganiclight-emittingdiodes(OLEDs).Theirlightweight,tunableconductivity,andprocessabilitymakethemattractivealternativestotraditionalmetalsinmanymoderntechnologies.Researchinsyntheticmetalscontinuestoexplorenewcompositions,dopingmethods,andapplications,aimingtoimprovetheirstability,conductivity,andintegrationintoadvancedelectronicdevices.
