Characterization of conducting poly(3‐methylthiophene) films prepared under sono‐electrochemical conditions

Abstract

Poly(3-methlthiophene) films were prepared under ''silent'' and ''sono-electrochemical'' potentiostatic (SEP) conditions. A three-electrode one-compartment sono-cell was used with a working platinum disc electrode. The sono-electrochemically formed polymer films were deposited with different working electrode-to-horn distances. The composition, electrochemical, spectroscopic, and morphological characteristics of the resulting polymer films were determined. Elemental analysis, FTIR-spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data proved that the polymer films prepared under SEP conditions have predominant a-a 0 -couplings between the 3MT units, and the aromatic ring integrity is maintained in the film. Scanning electron microscopy showed that those films are more compact and less porous compared to the films prepared under silent conditions. The use of sonoirradiation during electropolymerization enhanced the diffusion of the monomer units towards the electrode surface and resulted in relatively less doped polymers with less conductivity. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) data for films prepared under silent and SEP conditions were collected in a monomer-free solution. The results show that the impedance of SEP films is relatively higher than those prepared under silent conditions, and a combination of charge transfer kinetics with diffusion-controlled conduction mechanism within the films. The diffusion was found to be a function of the porosity of the film. Conductivity measurements are in good agreement with EIS, elemental analysis, and XPS data.

Facile Fabrication of PEDOT:PSS/Polythiophenes Bilayered Nanofilms on Pure Organic Electrodes and Their Thermoelectric Performance

“…For the (a) PEDOT:PSS/PTh, (b) PEDOT:PSS/P3MeT, and (c) PEDOT:PSS/P3HT films in Figure A, the bands around 1426 and 1190 cm –1 are attributed to the CC stretching vibration and the C–H bending of the thiophene ring. Although the band at about 715 cm –1 is assigned to C–S bending, and the band at 638 cm –1 is related to C–S–C ring deformation, which is in consistent with other literature reports. − As shown in Figure B with a narrow range from 600 to 1000 cm –1 , the band at 880 cm –1 for the PEDOT:PSS/P3MeT and PEDOT:PSS/P3HT films is related to −CH 3 terminal rocking, which differs from PEDOT:PSS/PTh. Additionally, the C β –H bending of the thiophene ring of the PEDOT:PSS/P3MeT and PEDOT:PSS/P3HT was located at 803 cm –1 , while it was located at 823 cm –1 for the PEDOT:PSS/PTh films, which maybe due to the −CH 3 and −C 6 H 13 substituents on the thiophene ring.…”

An Informatics Approach for Designing Conducting Polymers

“…Our room-temperature electrical conductivity data set for p-type doping was collected from literature ,− and from our own laboratory. There were 226 different homopolymers and 65 distinct dopants in the data set, forming 398 distinct polymer–dopant combinations.…”