Radical polymers in optoelectronic and spintronic applications

Radical polymers hold great potential as solid-state conducting materials due to their distinctive charge transport mechanism and intriguing optical properties resulting from their singly occupied molecular orbital energy levels. Furthermore, the paramagnetic nature of their open-shell structures broadens their applicability, allowing them to be magnetic field-active while also offering promising spin transport properties. These molecular design features position radical polymers as interesting materials for next-generation quantum information systems as well. In this review, we highlight the progress regarding several stable open-shell radical macromolecular architectures. We commence by examining their synthetic methods along with the mechanisms governing charge transport in such materials, followed by emphasizing their significant development of solid-state optoelectronic materials, and we conclude by discussing their emerging roles in spintronic applications.