Redox-active charge carriers of conducting polymers as a tuner of conductivity and its potential window

Electric conductivity of conducting polymers has been steadily enhanced towards a level worthy of being called its alias, "synthetic metal". PEDOT:PSS (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(styrene sulfonate)), as a representative conducting polymer, recently reached around 3,000â�...S cm -1, the value to open the possibility to replace transparent conductive oxides. The leading strategy to drive the conductivity increase is solvent annealing in which aqueous solution of PEDOT:PSS is treated with an assistant solvent such as DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide). In addition to the conductivity enhancement, we found that the potential range in which PEDOT:PSS is conductive is tuned wider into a negative potential direction by the DMSO-annealing. Also, the increase in a redox-active fraction of charge carriers is proposed to be responsible for the enhancement of conductivity in the solvent annealing process.open3

EMImCl-AlCl 3

This work studied the electro-polymerisation of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and its electrochemical behavior in Lewis acidic, neutral and basic chloroaluminate ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride aluminum chloride (EMImCl-AlCl3) by cyclic voltammetry. It was found that the electro-polymerisation on vitreous carbon only occurs in Lewis neutral EMImCl-AlCl3 as a dark blue-violet film whereas the electro-polymerisation in a Lewis acidic or basic compositions is not possible due to the interactions between the conductive polymer and the ionic liquid as well as the potential stability limits of the electrolyte. PEDOT films synthesised in Lewis neutral ionic liquid were tested in monomer-free Lewis acidic, basic and neutral EMImCl-AlCl3 and show different doping and de-doping behavior for chloride ionic species. The PEDOT films in a Lewis neutral composition showed higher doping levels due to the higher potential stability window, up to 2.6 V vs. Al|Al(III) than in a Lewis acidic and basic solutions. Furthermore, it was shown that the doping and de-doping levels are predefined during the electro-polymerisation of PEDOT. The anion doping and de-doping reaction reached 97% reversibility in the neutral composition, which suggests that PEDOT is a suitable electrode material to store charged species in this media and could be used in rechargeable energy storage devices

Influence of ionic liquids on the electrical conductivity and morphology of PEDOT:PSS films

Small-molecule nonvolatile additives based on ionic liquids (IL) as electrical conductivity enhancer in Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) was studied. Ionic liquids were investigated in the synthesis of self-assembled, highly organized hybrid nanostructures due to their ability as supramolecular solvents. Different percentage of five ionic liquids, such as 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (bmim) F 4 and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (bmim)Br were added to a PEDOT:PSScommercial dispersion. Films of pure PEDOT:PSS showed an average conductivity of 14 S cm-1, which corresponded to the value range given by the supplier. AFM images showed that IL induced the formation of a three-dimensional conducting network with smaller PEDOT domains. The ionic character of the films was significantly increased because of the presence of ionic liquids, which can be used effectively in optoelectronic devices.<br /