Heeger, MacDiarmid, and Shirakawa discover that halogen-doped polyacetylene conducts electricity. Breaks the paradigm that plastics are insulators. Basis of OLED displays, organic photovoltaic panels, and flexible electronics.
InstitutionUniversity of Pennsylvania / University of Tsukuba
Historical regionUnited States / Japan
Primary sourceShirakawa, H. et al. — "Synthesis of electrically conducting organic polymers" (J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun., 1977)