The propagation speed of the front of electrochemical conversion, from semiconductor to highly doped polymer, in films of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) spin cast on insulating substrates was analyzed. Propagation of the p-doped zone in polymer electrochromic devices was imaged simultaneously with recording of electrochemical data. The current is proportional to the propagation speed and has a Tafel-like behavior when taking the resistive drop in the film into account. The resistivity in the film, which gradually lowers the propagation speed, was used for determination of the conductivity of the p-doped polymer. By combining these values with the doping charge injected into the film during front migration we estimated the hole carrier mobility for different doping levels. © 2004 The Electrochemical Society.

An elastomeric stamp of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) can modify the surface energy of some surfaces when brought into conformal contact with these for some time. The substrates under investigation are a conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT-PSS) and a polyelectrolyte poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (NaPSS). The changes in surface wetting are characterized by contact angle measurement. Changes are due to the PDMS stamp, which leaves low molecular weight residues on the surface, as shown by infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. This process may also be operating when other inks are transferred in microcontact printing. Patterning of fluorescent polymer film with feature size of 10–100 μm range is done by confining polymer solutions on the modified surface, by means of spin- or dip-coating. The profile of the patterned film and factors that influence the profile are discussed. This technique is a convenient way to build polymer microstructures for application in organic and biomolecular electronics and photonics.

Electrochemical doping of conjugated polymers is a complex process, which forms the basis for both characterisation and applications of this class of materials. The high electron affinityof poly(quinoxaline vinylene)s and poly(pyridopyrazine)s, two types of polymers with potential use as electron acceptors in organic photodiodes, has been demonstrated with cyclic voltamrnetry. A large number of substituted polythiophenes were studied with the same technique and their electrochemical bandgaps were calculated on the basis of the n- and p-doping processes. The agreement with their optical bandgaps was sometimes poor, why we conclude that the common combination of electrochemical evaluation of the energy of the band edges with optical bandgaps may be misleading.

Associated with the electrochemical doping is a huge change in the conductivity. Solid state electrochemical cells were used to determine the conductivity in de-doped PEDOT, a polymer usually found in its doped state. The lowest conductivities found in PEDOT , and possible tostudy in these devices, are higher than expected by comparison to related materials. Such high conductivities allow the possibility of electrodeless electrochemistry, where the polymer under study is its own current collector. This demonstrates the use of a doped conjugated polymer film to act as its own working electrode for further doping. One way of demonstrating this phenomenon is to initialise the doping process in one end of a conjugated polymer film, being the working electrode in an electrochemical cell, and observe how the doped area gradually grows. An analysis of this propagation together with electrochemical data can be used to calculate the conductivity of the film in its doped state, and to characterisethe doping process.

The propagation of zones for electrochemical conversion in solid state two electrode cells also give evidence for doping as a part of the mechanism in polymer light emitting electro chemicalcells. These were constructed with oligoethylene substituted polythiophene mixed with an electrolyte as the active layer between two ITO electrodes. Also the use of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), PEDOT, both as electron and hole injection electrode in lightemitting devices, was demonstrated.

The electrochemical bandgaps for different soluble substituted polythiophenes have been measured by cyclic voltammetry. The effect of substituents on the oxidation/reduction potentials is discussed. Bandgaps obtained by cyclic voltammetry have been found to be in general higher than optical bandgaps. Among regioregular polymers substituted with a phenyl group at position 3 of the thiophene ring, examples are found that give very symmetric voltammograms. Rationalization for this behaviour is discussed from a conformational point of view.

The conductivity of chemically and electrochemically de-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) has been investigated in situ. We observe a decrease in the conductivity by 4-5 orders of magnitude. The change of conductivity is correlated to the change of electronic structure. We obtain the dielectric function of the polymer by spectroscopic ellipsometry and note that anisotropy is observed in both doped and neutral states. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Micromolding in capillaries is a soft lithography method for patterning materials. We have studied the diffusion of solvent from the excavated microsized channels in the stamp into the PDMS material, both theoretically and experimentally. It was demonstrated that a model of 1-D diffusion of solvent through a PDMS stamp, coupled with a mass conservation of the solvent in the channels, leads to a quantitatively accurate model for the velocity of the boundary between liquid-filled and vapor-filled microchannels in the stamp. With the model the diffusion coefficient of the solvent into PDMS was successfully determined.

Poly(quinoxaline vinylene) and poly(pyridopyrazine vinylene) with 3(2'-ethylhexyloxy)phenyl side-groups have been synthesized and compared with similar polymers with purely aliphatic side-chains. The new polymers had smaller bandgaps, and from cyclic voltammetry it was seen that the phenyl substituted side-groups made the polymers easier to reduce, with half wave potentials of -1.02 and -1.33 V versus Ag/AgCl for the poly(pyridopyrazine vinylene) and poly(quinoxaline vinylene) respectively. The attachment of the phenyl substituted side-groups had counteracting effects on the stability towards photo-oxidation, which resulted in improved stability of the poly(pyridopyrazine vinylene) compared to its equivalent with purely aliphatic side-chains, while the poly(quinoxaline vinylene) showed decreased stability. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and characterization of poly(quinoxaline vinylene)s and poly(pyridopyrazine vinylene)s with linear and branched aliphatic side chains are reported. The electron affinity of the polymers was measured with cyclic voltammetry (CV) and found to be highest for the pyridopyrazine vinylene polymers, Compared to CN-MEH-PPV, the pyridopyrazine vinylene polymers were easier to reduce, while the quinoxaline derivatives were harder. UV-vis absorption measurements showed that the polymers have relatively small band gaps.

The synthesis and characterization of two new soluble poly(p-phenylenevinylenes) (PPVs) are reported. The polymers are poly(2-2',5'-bis(octyloxy)benzene)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (BOP-PPV) and poly(2-(2',5'-bis(octyloxy)benzene)-5-methoxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (BOPM-PPV). Both polymers have been polymerized at high and low temperatures to study the formation of structural defects. It is shown that both methoxy groups as side chains and low polymerization temperatures decrease the content of defects in the final polymer. As a consequence, the polymers with lower concentration of defects exhibit higher electroluminescence yields in light-emitting diodes. In addition to this, the polymers with a low content of defects exhibited longer operational lifetimes in these devices. The highest photoluminescence quantum yield in the solid state and electroluminescence efficiency were found to be 72% and 1.74%, respectively.

The aim of this paper is to determine the efficient number of experimental points when using the response surface methodology in crashworthiness problems.

The D-optimality criterion is used as experimental design method. Two application models have been studied, one square tube and one front rail from Saab Automobile AB. Both models were fully parameterized in the preprocessor LS-INGRID but only two design variables were used. The optimization package LS-OPT was used to determine the design of experiments using the D-optimality criterion. Both models were subjected to an impact into a rigid wall and the simulations were carried out using LS-DYNA. A general recommendation is to to use 1.5 times the minimum number of experimental points. A more specialized recommendation is for linear surfaces 1.5, elliptic surfaces 2.2 and for quadratic surfaces 1.6 times the minimum number of experimental points.