- Leng, Mingwan;
- Koripally, Nandu;
- Huang, Junjie;
- Vriza, Aikaterini;
- Lee, Kyeong Yeon;
- Ji, Xiaozhou;
- Li, Chenxuan;
- Hays, Megan;
- Tu, Qing;
- Dunbar, Kim;
- Xu, Jie;
- Ng, Tse Nga;
- Fang, Lei
Ladder-type structures can impart exceptional stability to polymeric electronic materials. This article introduces a new class of conductive polymers featuring a fully ladder-type backbone. A judicious molecular design strategy enables the synthesis of a low-defect ladder polymer, which can be efficiently oxidized and acid-doped to achieve its conductive state. The structural elucidation of this polymer and the characterization of its open-shell nature are facilitated with the assistance of studies on small molecular models. An autonomous robotic system is used to optimize the conductivity of the polymer thin film, achieving over 7 mS cm-1. Impressively, this polymer demonstrates unparalleled stability in strong acid and under harsh UV-irradiation, significantly surpassing commercial benchmarks like PEDOT:PSS and polyaniline. Moreover, it displays superior durability across numerous redox cycles as the active material in an electrochromic device and as the pseudocapacitive material in a supercapacitor device. This work provides structural design guidance for durable conductive polymers for long-term device operation.