Progress in understanding structure and transport properties of PEDOT-based materials: a critical review

Publication date: Available online 2 November 2019Source: Progress in Materials ScienceAuthor(s): Magatte N. Gueye, Alexandre Carella, Jérôme Faure-Vincent, Renaud Demadrille, Jean-Pierre SimonatoAbstractSince the late ’80s, a highly stable conductive polymer has been developed, that is poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene), also known as PEDOT. Its increasing conductivity throughout the years combined with its intrinsic stability have aroused great attention both in the academic and industrial fields. The growing importance of PEDOT, can be easily acknowledged through the numerous applications in thermoelectricity, photovoltaics, lighting, sensing, technical coatings, transparent electrodes, bioelectronics, and so forth. Although its high electrical conductivity is strongly established in the literature, the wide range of data shows that disorder, as the limiting factor in charges’ transport, hinders the design of materials with optimal performances. The aim of this article is to review and discuss recent progresses dealing with the electrical conductivity and transport properties in PEDOT materials, with special attention on morphological and structural features. Particular emphasis is given to the commercial PEDOT:PSS as well as other PEDOT-based materials stabilized with smaller counter-anions. It appears that the electrical conductivity and the transport mechanisms are closely related to the fabrication process, the crystallinity of the material and the choice of the c...
Source: Progress in Materials Science - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research