Effect of solvent doping and post-treatment on the characteristics of PEDOT: PSS conducting polymer

Abstract

Poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) has attracted a great deal of attention as a transparent conductive material for organic solar cells or organic light-emitting diodes due to its high electrical conductivity, optical transparency, and excellent mechanical flexibility. It is well known that a solvent doping for PEDOT: PSS thin-films significantly increases the conductivity of films. In this paper, the effect of various kinds of solvent doping and post-treatment on the electrical and structural properties of PEDOT: PSS thin-films is investigated. The solvent doping greatly increases the conductivity of PEDOT: PSS thin-films up to 884 S/cm. A further enhancement of the conductivity of PEDOT: PSS thin-films is achieved by the solvent post-treatment which raises the conductivity up to 1131 S/cm. The enhancement is mainly caused by the depletion of insulating PSS and forming conducting PEDOT-rich granular networks. Strong optical absorption peaks at the wavelength of 225 nm of PEDOT: PSS thin-films indicate the depletion of insulating PSS by post-treatment. We believe that the solvent post-treatment is a promising method to achieve highly conductive transparent PEDOT: PSS thin-films for applications in efficient, low-cost and flexible organic devices.