Imaging the Phase Separation Between PEDOT and Polyelectrolytes During Processing of Highly Conductive PEDOT:PSS FilmsShow others and affiliations
2015 (English)In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, ISSN 1944-8244, E-ISSN 1944-8252, Vol. 7, no 35, p. 19764-19773Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Treating PEDOT:PSS (Clevios) with certain additives, such as ethylene glycol (EG), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and sorbitol, has been shown to increase the conductivity of this material from roughly 1 to nearly 1000 S/cm. Using a slow drying method, we show that the additive induced a separation between free PSS and reorganized PEDOT:PSS complexes in the highly conductive PEDOT:PSS films. Additives (DMSO, DEG, and PEG 400) were included in PEDOT:PSS aqueous dispersions at large volume fractions. The mixtures were slowly dried under room conditions. During drying, the evaporation of water resulted in an additive-rich solvent mixture from which the reorganized PEDOT:PSS complexes aggregated " into a dense film while free PSS remained in the solution. Upon complete drying, PSS formed a transparent rim film around the conducting PEDOT film. The chemical compositions of the two phases were studied using an infrared microscope. This removal of PSS resulted in more compact packing of PEDOT molecules, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurements. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscope measurements suggested the enrichment of PEDOT on the film surface after PSS separation. Through a simple drying process in an additive-containing dispersion, the conductivity of PEDOT films increased from 0.1 to 200-400 S/cm. Through this method, we confirmed the existence of two phases in additive-treated and highly conductive PEDOT:PSS films. The proper separation between PSS and PEDOT will be of relevance in designing strategies to process high-performance plastic electrodes.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
AMER CHEMICAL SOC , 2015. Vol. 7, no 35, p. 19764-19773
Keywords [en]
PEDOT:PSS; solvent treatment; additives; conductivity enhancement; organic electronics
National Category
Materials Chemistry Inorganic Chemistry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-121897DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b05439ISI: 000361252400030PubMedID: 26290062OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-121897DiVA, id: diva2:860761
Note
Funding Agencies|Swedish Strategic Research Foundation (SSF) through the project SiOS; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
2015-10-132015-10-122024-01-10