Who created the term "synthetic metal"?

Who created the term "synthetic metal"?

[Chinese aluminum industry] doped conjugated polymers, and other organic materials with metal conductivity, often referred to as synthetic metals. This term is known by Alan Mac Diarmid “Synthetic Metals: The New Role of Organic Polymers”. The term can also be seen in the Elsevier magazine and the International Synthetic Metal Science and Technology Conference devoted to these materials. The term "synthetic metal" has been used long enough, so few people question its origin. Therefore, it is necessary to review the history of the origin of this term.

It is believed that the term was used by Alfred Ubbelohde in 1969. In the Weinberg biography of Ubbelohde, a clear example can be found: "Ubbelohde created tempting expression" synthetic metal, which was created by the inclusion of metallic conductive materials, but these materials are completely composed of non-metallic atoms such as carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen , composed of halogen and oxygen. But in fact, this term appeared earlier than Ubbelohde, which can be found in the 1911 Herbert Mc Coy's writing.

Herbert Newby Mc Coy (1870-1945) received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1898 and had positions in Utah and Chicago before going to the factory. Although he is well known for his expertise in rare earth chemistry, he is also believed to be the person who made the metal in the frontal position in 1911 by electrolysis of (CH3)4N+ salt. This can be traced back to the amalgam report in 1808. McCoy believes that reducing ammonium can show metallic properties similar to metallic sodium.

Using a mercury electrode, electrolysis produces a metallic luster solid similar to sodium amalgam. Although not very stable, it was confirmed to be an amalgam of ammonium radicals having metal conductivity. Mc Coy concluded: "The results have just been examined. Although the quantities are very small, it is very likely that composite metal materials, called synthetic metals, are produced, and at least some of these components are non-metallic." Bard, 1986 And colleagues believe that these products are actually Zincl ion salts produced by mercury reduction of NH4+ (Hg4-). Therefore, these are not originally thought of as organic metals but appear to be the origin of "synthetic metals". This term was then no longer used in the literature until Ubbelohde used it to describe intercalated graphite in 1969.

Alfred Rene Ubbelohde (1907-1988) was awarded a D.Sc. degree from Oxford University in 1941 and later held academic positions at Queen's University and Imperial College. His research career has involved a range of research directions, including graphite and intercalation compounds, metal hydrogen. Phase change materials and ionic melts. The embedded graphite reported by Ubbelohde shows an electrical conductivity as high as 2.5 x 105 Scm-1, and thus becomes a prior example of providing metal organic materials. He described these materials for the first time in 1951 but did not describe them as synthetic metals until 1969. The conductivity reported in the 1969 paper was significantly higher than his previous report, which may be the reason why he used this term to describe these later materials. Whatever the reason, the word became the mainstream of his writing. This led people to believe that he initiated the word.

Well, it was Ubbelohde who independently developed the term "synthetic metal", learned it in Mc Coy's work, and simply applied it to his work. This question is impossible to conclude, although the biography of Ubbelohde can provide some clues, but it should be noted that Ubbelohde never claimed that this term was his own, and he never defined this term. He always uses this term as if it were a known term and does not require explanation. For example, he relied on the previous sentence in his previous article in 1969: "With the development of methods for the production of near-ideal graphite and the improvement of methods for controlling the gradual formation of intercalation compounds, charge carriers in these synthetic metals have been studied. Changes in behavior are possible and will be more detailed than the study of the availability of natural metals."

This term was not explained and he did not provide any reference. Although Mc Coy was never mentioned, it should be noted that Ubbelohde published 2 papers on ammonium amalgam in 1951. This is the same topic as Mc Coy's synthetic metal text, so he is familiar with the work of Mc Coy. It seems reasonable. Although this cannot be confirmed, I believe that Ubbelohde learned this term from Mc Coy and did not develop it independently. If this statement is correct, then Ubbelohde's never referring to or recognizing the cause of Mc Coy will remain a confusing mystery.

In the early 1970s, additional metal materials were discovered, including organic charge transfer salts, metal chain compounds, and polysulfur nitrides. As this study covered a range of science and geography disciplines, a seminar was held in Siofok, Hungary in the summer of 1976 to bring together these interdisciplinary researchers. This has led to a long-term international conference, the International Conference on Synthetic Metal Science and Technology, commonly known as ICSM. The conference was held annually from 1976 to 1982 and once every two years after 1982.

In November 1976, the researchers found that highly conductive materials could be obtained by doping polyacetylene films. Mac Diarmid, Heeger, and Shirakawa first reported the study at the second ICSM meeting in New York City. The results of this study subsequently appeared in the literature of the end of 1977, thereby expanding the scope of synthetic metals, including doped polyacetylene. Although the term is not used in the original polyacetylene paper, Mac Diarmid's 1979 review article defined that the synthetic metal is a metal compound derived from polysulfur nitride, polyacetylene, and graphite. With the continued development of conductive polymers, the term was further extended in 1991 to include doped polymers such as polyparaphenylene, polyphenylenevinylene, polypyrrole, polythiophene, and polyaniline.

By October 1979, a new Elsevier magazine was launched, specifically reporting these materials called synthetic metals. So far, this is still the magazine for organic conductive materials.

The history of synthetic metals can be traced back to more than usual. In addition, since the concept of our conductive materials has changed over the past 50 years, the term "synthetic metal" has also changed since its first use. However, in all cases, these materials are consistent with McCoy's earlier proposed synthesis of metals in 1911 to represent the view that "composite metals are viewed from the compositional elements, at least some of which are non-metallic."

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