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Alan G. MacDiarmid
1927–2007 · New Zealand, United States · 20th century
Nobel Chemistry 2000
New Zealand-American chemist who co-discovered that plastics can be made to conduct electricity.
Nobel Prize work
With Alan Heeger and Hideki Shirakawa he discovered that polyacetylene doped with iodine conducts electricity almost like a metal, overturning the dogma that plastics are insulators. The work launched conductive polymers, now used in OLEDs, antistatic coatings, sensors and flexible electronics.