PEDOT Nanocrystal in Highly Conductive PEDOT:PSS Polymer Films

The nanometer-size crystallization of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) inside the hydrophobic core region of PEDOT:PSS (PSS: poly(4-styrenesulfonate)) in a solid film is found by small and wide-angle X-ray scatterings using a synchrotron radiation source. The clarified PEDOT:PSS structure indicates that a nanocrystal of PEDOT surrounded by PSS is grown in the solid film from randomly oriented PEDOT in a micelle dispersed in water during the course of film fabrication. The addition of ethylene glycol (EG) to the PEDOT:PSS water dispersion and post-treatment of the pristine film with EG both provide similar improvements in PEDOT crystallinity. The crystallite size of PEDOT increases up to a comparable size (∼4.8 nm) to the hydrophobic PEDOT core region of the micelle. The electrical conductivity of the solid film is concurrently enhanced by 2 orders of magnitude with the growing nanocrystal of PEDOT. These findings clearly demonstrate the importance of the single crystalline PEDOT assisted by EG to ...