Studies of the interface of conducting polymers with inorganic surfaces

Many of the properties of multi-material systems and relevant devices depend on the interfaces between the different components. This review focuses on characteriza- tion of the interfaces between intrinsically conducting poly- mers and inorganic materials consisting of metals and metal oxides. These materials are chosen because of their impor- tance in several analytical applications. Although use of conducting polymers and metals or metal oxides in analyt- ical systems, specifically in sensing, is well established, the number of novel materials used for analytical purposes is continuously increasing. This further increases the possible number of effective combinations of different materials within multicomponent systems. As a consequence, innova- tive characterization techniques have become as important as more conventional techniques. On the other hand, sophis- ticated characterisation techniques are increasingly wide- spread and, consequently, also readily accessible. This critical review is not an exhaustive discussion of all possible analytical techniques suitable for characterization of interfaces. It is, instead, limited to an overview of the most effective, relatively widespread techniques, emphasising their most significant recent advances. Critical analysis of the individual techniques is complemented by a few selected examples.