NOVELTY - Polymeric material comprises a conductive polymer substantially homogeneously distributed within a hydrogel.    USE - The polymeric material is useful: in device, which is implantable into a patient, where the device is bioelectrode; for coating substrate (all claimed); and in electronically conducting adhesives and antistatic coatings for the microelectronics industry, polymer lithium ion batteries, polymer light emitting diodes, solar cells, biosensors, artificial muscles, tactile sensors and neuroprosthetic electrodes.    ADVANTAGE - The polymeric material: utilizes hydrogel which improves mechanical properties of conductive polymer, thus enabling the polymeric material to be more widely used than the conductive polymer itself; has improved biocompatibility than the conductive polymer; has improved durability; has ability to deliver high concentrations of biologically active substances than conventional conductive polymers; and can reduce the stiffness of a conductive polymer by up to five orders of magnitude, bringing it within one order of magnitude of neural tissue stiffness.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are also included for:    (1) producing a polymeric material in which the conductive polymer is substantially homogeneously distributed within the hydrogel, comprising either: mixing polymer subunits capable of forming the hydrogel polymer constituent with polymer subunits capable of forming the conductive polymer, and exposing the mixture to conditions where the polymer subunits capable of forming the hydrogel polymer constituent polymerize to form the hydrogel polymer constituent and subsequently form the hydrogel and, at the same time, the polymer subunits capable of forming the conductive polymer polymerize to form the conductive polymer within the hydrogel; or forming the hydrogel from at least one hydrogel polymer constituents; exposing the hydrogel to polymer subunits capable of forming the conductive polymer; and polymerizing the polymer subunits, where the conductive polymer is formed within the hydrogel;    (2) producing the conductive polymer surface on a substrate, comprising: coating the substrate with a first conductive polymer; forming the hydrogel on the coated substrate from the hydrogel polymer constituents; diffusing polymer subunits capable of forming a second conductive polymer throughout the hydrogel; and polymerizing the polymer subunits, where the second conductive polymer is formed within the hydrogel and is substantially homogeneously distributed within the hydrogel;    (3) a device comprising a conductive surface, where the polymeric material is deposited on the conducting surface;    (4) an electrode comprising at least one surface onto which the polymeric material has been deposited; and    (5) a substrate coated with the polymeric material that comprises the conductive polymer substantially homogeneously distributed within the hydrogel.