Visualizing strands of PCDTPT

One way to visualize strands of PCDTPT, a conductive plastic material, is as a collection of gummy worms. These images depict the PCDTPT material in two forms: as a solid (top) and suspended in a liquid (bottom). In solid form, the gummy worms are touching, and electricity can flow from one worm to another. When suspended in a liquid, though, each gummy worm is more isolated, and electricity cannot flow as easily between worms. In the NIST experiment, researchers found that PCDTPT strands were just as conductive in the liquid as they were in solid form, which suggests that conductivity is happening not so much between strands/gummy worms as along a single strand/gummy worm.
Client
NIST
Date
March 2020
Categories
Illustration
Link
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2020/03/roll-tvs-and-bendable-smartphones-toward-more-choices-flexible-electronic

Project Notes

A supplementary diagram relating the molecular structure of PCDTPT to the colored regions of the gummy worms:

Each strand of PCDTPT is made of two parts that alternate like the colors on a gummy worm candy. One part (blue) is an electron donor, meaning it tends to give electrons away. The other part (green) is an electron acceptor, meaning it attracts electrons. Packing many PCDTPT strands next to each other in a thin film allows electrons to move freely about the material, conducting electricity.