A conductive polymer material is provided that includes an electrically conducting monomer and a zwitterionic sulfate chemically attached to the monomer. The electrically conducting monomer is at least one of acetylene, pyrrole, thiophene, phenylenevinylene, paraphenylene and aniline. The zwitterionic sulfonate includes an imidazolium group or an ammonium group. A solid-state battery is also provided that includes the conductive polymer material in an electrode. The solid-state battery includes an anode, a cathode and a solid electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode. At least one of the anode and the cathode includes the conductive polymer material.

The present invention provides a bio-electrode composition capable of forming a living body contact layer for a bio-electrode that is excellent in conductivity and biocompatibility, is light-weight, can be manufactured at low cost, and can control significant reduction in conductivity even though the bio-electrode is soaked in water or dried. The present invention is accomplished by a bio-electrode composition including an (A) ionic material and a (B) resin other than the component (A), in which the component (A) has both a repeating unit a of a sodium salt, a potassium salt, or an ammonium salt including a partial structure represented by the following general formula (1) and a repeating unit b having a silicon atom.
R.sup.1SO.sub.2N.sup.SO.sub.2Rf.sub.1M.sup.+(1)

The present invention relates to a non-aqueous ink composition containing (a) a polythiophene containing a repeating unit complying with formula (I); (b) metal oxide nanoparticles containing at least (b-1) a first metal oxide nanoparticle having an average primary particle diameter d.sub.1 and (b-2) a second metal oxide nanoparticle having an average primary particle diameter d.sub.2, wherein d.sub.1<d.sub.2; and (c) a liquid carrier containing one or more organic solvents, as well as a pile-up suppressor and a lifetime extension agent for an organic EL device, containing metal oxide nanoparticles containing at least the (b-1) and (b-2) described above, wherein d.sub.1<d.sub.2.

In one or more embodiments, the present invention provides a method of forming compact, flexible, stable and biocompatible conducting polymer coating for bioelectronics devices. In one or more embodiments, the present invention relates to a novel method of synthesizing a sulfobetaine-functionalized conjugated polymer platform using 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) as the conducting backbone (SBEDOT). This SBEDOT monomer is highly water-soluble and can be directly polymerized to form a densely packed film/coating on conductive or semi-conductive surfaces through electro-polymerization in a 100% aqueous solution without the need for organic solvents or surfactants. These polySBEDOT (PSBEDOT) coated surfaces have been shown to have electro-switchable antimicrobial/antifouling properties and excellent electrically conducting properties, which minimize infection, increase biocompatibility, and improve the performance of bioelectronics.

A resist composition including a compound (D0) represented by general formula (d0) and a resin component (A1) has a structural unit (a0) in which a compound represented by general formula (a0-1) has a polymerizable group within the W.sup.1 portion converted into a main chain (in formula (d0), Rd.sup.01 represents a fluorine atom or a fluorinated alkyl group; In formula (a0-1), W.sup.1 represents a polymerizable group-containing group; C.sup.t represents a tertiary carbon atom, and the -position of C.sup.t is a carbon atom which constitutes a carbon-carbon unsaturated bond; R.sup.11 represents an aromatic hydrocarbon group; or a chain hydrocarbon group; R.sup.12 and R.sup.13 each independently represents a chain hydrocarbon group, or R.sup.12 and R.sup.13 are mutually bonded to form a cyclic group).

##STR00001##

Methods and devices are provided for pre-treatment of a sample containing microbial cells. In some embodiments, the pre-treatment of the sample is performed via the initial selective lysis, within a sample pre-treatment vessel, of non-microbial cells, such as blood cells, and the subsequent centrifugal separation of the sample to remove the resulting debris and concentrate the microbial cells. An immiscible and dense cushioning liquid may be included for collecting the microbial cells adjacent to the liquid interface formed by the cushioning liquid upon centrifugation of the pre-treatment vessel. After removal of a substantial quantity of the supernatant, resuspension of the collected microbial cells, and re-establishment of the cushioning liquid interface, at least a portion of the remaining suspension may be removed without substantially removing the cushioning liquid. One or more intermediate wash cycles may be performed prior to extraction of the remaining suspension, which provides a pretreated sample.

Hydrocarbon proton exchange membranes are disclosed that are composed of a material including a hydrophobic main chain, and acidic side chains. The main chain includes a polyaryl structure that is substantially free of ether linkages and also includes a fluoromethyl substituted carbon. The acidic side chains include a hydrocarbon tether terminated by a strongly acidic group, such as a fluoroalkyl sulfonate group. Chemical stability of the material is increased by removing the ether linkages from the main chain. The hydrophobic main chain and substantially hydrophilic side chains create a phase-separated morphology that affords enhanced transport of protons and water across the membrane even at low relative humidity levels. These materials are advantageous as membranes for use in fuel cells, redox flow batteries, water hydrolysis systems, sensors, electrochemical hydrogen compressors, actuators, water purifiers, gas separators, etc.

An improved dispersion, which is particularly suitable for use in forming a hybrid capacitor, and improved method for forming a hybrid capacitor, and an improved capacitor is provided. The method comprises forming a dispersion comprising a conductive polymer, a dispersing agent, a monomer of the conductive polymer and a molar excess of anionic counterion per mole of conductive polymer and monomer. The dispersion is homogenized to form a homogenized dispersion. A capacitor is formed comprising a conductive layer formed from the homogenized dispersion.

The present invention relates to polymers and copolymer including a poly(phenylene) structure, as well as a long tether. In some embodiments, the long tether facilitates a reaction between the poly(phenylene) structure and another subunit of a second polymer. In some embodiments, the tether is flexible.

The present invention relates to a porous organic polymer-based hydrogen ion conductive material and a method for preparing the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for preparing a porous organic polymer (POP)-based material with high proton conductivity that is applicable to a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The porous organic polymer-based proton conductive material of the present invention can be prepared in an easy and simple manner by microwave treatment and acid treatment requiring short processing time and low processing cost. In addition, the porous organic polymer-based proton conductive material of the present invention can be developed into a highly proton conductive material having the potential to replace Nafion through a simple post-synthesis modification. Therefore, the porous organic polymer-based proton conductive material of the present invention is suitable for use in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell.