Different ionic liquids (ILs) have been used as dopants in conducting polymer aqueous dispersion (PEDOT:PSS) leading to films of PEDOT:PSS/IL with enhanced electrical conductivity (up to 136 S cm-1). After the addition of the ILs, AFM images of the films show a three-dimensional conducting network of highly conducting PEDOT exhibiting preferred paths for charge carrier transport.

The synthesis and characterization of a new family of pyrrolidinium based poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) electrolytes with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) pendant groups is reported. The PILs were synthesized from a diallyl methyl amine hydrochloride monomer, which was obtained in large quantities using a modified Eschweiler-Clarke reaction. As additional plasticizers for the PILs, pyrrolidinium ionic liquids (ILs), also with PEG groups, were synthesized. All obtained PILs and ILs revealed excellent thermal stabilities to greater than 300 °C. Binary electrolyte mixtures were prepared by blending the PILs and ILs in different weight ratios. In addition, a ternary mixture of the best performing PIL and IL and bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide lithium salt (LiTFSI) was prepared. The obtained electrolyte blends showed very good ionic conductivities in the best case up to 2.4 mS cm–1 at 25 °C and 10.2 mS cm–1 at 100 °C and outperformed their pyrrolidinium counterparts with alkyl side chain that were synthesized as a reference. It was found that the ionic conductivity of the blends increased with an increase in the PEG chain length of the PILs. The good physicochemical properties of the presented materials make them potential candidates for electrochemical applications such as lithium-ion batteries or dye-sensitized solar cells.

PEDOT nanotube arrays present a better catalytic activity with I−/I3− redox than standard platinized counter electrodes used for dye sensitized solar cells exhibiting thereby a photoconversion efficiency as high as 8.3%. The PEDOT layer introduces an additional series resistance which is compensated by its excellent catalytic performance yielding counter electrodes as good as platinized ones, or even better.

Multifunctional materials can be engineered by combining multiple chemical components, each conferring a well-defined function to the ensemble. Graphene is at the centre of an ever-growing research effort due to its combination of unique properties. Here we show that the large conformational change associated with the trans–cis photochemical isomerization of alkyl-substituted azobenzenes can be used to improve the efficiency of liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite, with the photochromic molecules acting as dispersion-stabilizing agents. We also demonstrate reversible photo-modulated current in two-terminal devices based on graphene–azobenzene composites. We assign this tuneable electrical characteristics to the intercalation of the azobenzene between adjacent graphene layers and the resulting increase in the interlayer distance on (photo)switching from the linear trans-form to the bulky cis-form of the photochromes. These findings pave the way to the development of new optically controlled memories for light-assisted programming and high-sensitive photosensors.