Polyacetylene!
Chemistry
Level
2
Which property that polyacetylene exhibits is unusual for an organic polymer ?
High boiling point.
Electrical conductivity.
Strength.
Flexibility.
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1 solution
Conducting polymers have backbones of contiguous sp2 hybridized carbon centers. One valence electron on each center resides in a pz orbital, which is orthogonal to the other three sigma-bonds. All the pz orbitals combine with each other to a molecule wide delocalized set of orbitals. The electrons in these delocalized orbitals have high mobility when the material is "doped" by oxidation, which removes some of these delocalized electrons. These electrons contribute to the conducting nature of the polymer.