| Abstract: | Precursor polymers to conjugated polymers, such as poly(phenylene
vinylene), poly(poly(thiophene vinylene), poly(aniline vinylene), and
poly(pyrrole vinylene), can be used as thermally switchable capacitor
dielectrics that fail at a specific temperature due to the non-conjugated
precursor polymer irreversibly switching from an insulator to the
conjugated polymer, which serves as a bleed resistor. The precursor
polymer is a good dielectric until it reaches a specific temperature
determined by the stability of the leaving groups. Conjugation of the
polymer backbone at high temperature effectively disables the capacitor,
providing a `built-in` safety mechanism for electronic devices. |