Nanoarchitectured Porous Conducting Polymers: From Controlled Synthesis to Advanced Applications

Conductive polymers (CPs) integrate the inherent characteristics of conventional polymers and the unique electrical properties of metals. They have aroused tremendous interest over the last decade owing to their high conductivity, robust and flexible properties, facile fabrication, and cost-effectiveness. Compared to bulk CPs, porous CPs with well-defined nano- or microstructures possess open porous architectures, high specific surface areas, more exposed reactive sites, and remarkably enhanced activities. These attractive features have led to their applications in sensors, energy storage and conversion devices, biomedical devices, and so on. In this review article, the different strategies for synthesizing porous CPs, including template-free and template-based methods, are summarized, and the importance of tuning the morphology and pore structure of porous CPs to optimize their functional performance is highlighted. Moreover, their representative applications (energy storage devices, sensors, biomedical devices, etc.) are also discussed. The review is concluded by discussing the current challenges and future development trend in this field.