Fully soluble self-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) with an electrical conductivity greater than 1000 S cm ⁻¹

Abstract

Wet-processable and highly conductive polymers are promising candidates for key materials in organic electronics. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is commercially available as a water dispersion of colloidal particles but has some technical issues with PSS. Here, we developed a novel fully soluble self-doped PEDOT (S-PEDOT) with an electrical conductivity as high as 1089 S cm−1without additives (solvent effect). Our results indicate that the molecular weight of S-PEDOT is the critical parameter for increasing the number of nanocrystals, corresponding to the S-PEDOT crystallites evaluated by x-ray diffraction and conductive atomic force microscopic analyses as having high electrical conductivity, which reduced both the average distance between adjacent nanocrystals and the activation energy for the hopping of charge carriers, leading to the highest bulk conductivity.

Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conductors Based on PEDOT:PolyDADMA and Organic Ionic Plastic Crystals

“…The synthesis of PEDOT:PolyDADMA FSI and PEDOT:PolyDADMA TFSI were carried out following a previously reported procedure [ 29 ], by oxidative polymerization in an acidic medium. It was previously reported that using an acidic medium can enhance the doping of PEDOT chains [ 30 ]. EDOT (0.3 mL, 2.81 mmol) and 20 wt% PolyDADMAC (1.92 mL, 2.48 mmol) were dispersed in 50 mL of 0.1 M HCl aqueous solution.…”

Organic Bioelectronics: Using Highly Conjugated Polymers to Interface with Biomolecules, Cells, and Tissues in the Human Body

“…The dispersion of colloidal PEDOT particles surrounded by PSS can limit the formation of intimate stacking and connections between adjacent PEDOT chains, influencing charge transport and necessitating the introduction of additives to improve conductivity. [ 201–203 ] The fixed nature of the PSS counterion means the PEDOT polymer cannot achieve a fully neutral state, impacting the on–off ratio of devices. [ 180 ] The complexity of the material makes it a challenging model system to probe charge transport behaviors.…”

“…reported a self‐doped PEDOT variant they call S‐PEDOT, with an electrical conductivity of over 1000 S cm −1 . [ 201 ] They found the conductivity is highly dependent on the concentration of the S‐EDOT monomer during polymerization, which in turn impacts crystallite formation in thin films ( Figure ). In general, the conjugated polyelectrolyte approach is not limited to PEDOT and has also been demonstrated in OECTs fabricated from a polyelectrolyte derivative of polythiophene.…”

An Electroactive Oligo‐EDOT Platform for Neural Tissue Engineering

“…[54] The use of reported water soluble EDOT derivatives, bearing carboxyl or sulfonate group is particularly attractive. [63][64][65] It is therefore likely that optimization of this process will allow the future synthesis of tetra-and penta-oligomers with sufficient solubility for gelation.…”