Preparation, Physical Properties, and Applications of Water-Based Functional Polymer Inks

Abstract

In this study, water-based functional polymer inks are prepared using different solvent displacement methods, in particular, polymer functional inks based on semiconducting polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) and the ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride) and its copolymers with trifluoroethylene. The nanoparticles that are included in the inks are prepared by miniemulsion, as well as flash and dialysis nanoprecipitation techniques and we discuss the properties of the inks obtained by each technique. Finally, an example of the functionality of a semiconducting/ferroelectric polymer coating prepared from water-based inks is presented.

Fabrication and Nanoscale Properties of PEDOT:PSS Conducting Polymer Nanospheres

“…However, the probe-sample electrical contact was not adequate to guarantee a proper conductivity measurement, resulting in non-reliable results. A similar situation was discussed, where the measurement in AFM-based properties of polymer nanospheres required embedding the nanostructures into a matrix [23].…”

“…The resulting nanograting consisted of electrically conducting ripples, opening a path to new possible applications of this material. Moreover, in this area of research, intrinsically conducting and semiconducting polymeric nanospheres captured the attention of the scientific community in the past few years [20][21][22][23]. Recently, poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) hollowed nanospheres were synthesized by Zhang et al for applications into electrochromic systems [24].…”

“…As recently reviewed by Nogales' group [23], the most direct strategies for the preparation of nanospheres using functional polymers require the use of polymer solutions in water-miscible solvents, with low boiling points. However, in the case of PEDOT:PSS, this approach is limited because of its bad solubility in most of commercial solvents with these requirements.…”

“…In this work, we present a novel method to fabricate conducting PEDOT:PSS nanospheres, by a reprecipitation process. This method is based on that previously used to prepare nanospheres of other families of functional polymers [23,33]. We used a strategy able to solubilize PEDOT:PSS in EG, using the commercial material as precursor without chemical modifications.…”

Fabrication and nanoscale properties of PEDOT:PSS conducting polymer nanospheres

“…Moreover, in this area of research, intrinsically conducting and semiconducting polymeric nanospheres captured the attention of the scientific community in the past few years. [21][22][23][24] Systems based on Polypyrrole (PPy) and Polyaniline were already studied for applications such as ion batteries, nanocomposites, supercapacitors and sensors. [25][26][27][28] But PEDOT:PSS conducting nanospheres would not be only an alternative to technology previously developed with other polymers, in addition to that, they would constitute a potential innovation to expand the applications of PEDOT:PSS itself, as the dimensions of the nanoparticles can alter the electrical transport properties both in bulk and at the surface.…”