Transparent conductive films fabricated from polythiophene nanofibers composited with conventional polymers

Abstract

Transparent, conductive films were prepared by compositing poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) nanofibers with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The transparency, conductivity, atmospheric stability, and mechanical strength of the resulting nanofiber composite films when doped with AuCl3 were evaluated and compared with those of P3HT nanofiber mats. The conductivity of the nanofiber composite films was 4.1 S·cm-1, which is about seven times less than that which was previously reported for a nanofiber mat with the same optical transmittance (~80%) reported by Aronggaowa et al. The time dependence of the transmittance, however, showed that the doping state of the nanofiber composite films in air was more stable than that of the nanofiber mats. The fracture stress of the nanofiber composite film was determined to be 12.3 MPa at 3.8% strain. © 2013 by the authors.