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A Morphological Model for the Solvent‐Enhanced Conductivity of PEDOT:PSS Thin Films
Author(s) -
Nardes Alexandre Mantovani,
Janssen René A. J.,
Kemerink Martijn
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.200700796
Subject(s) - pedot:pss , materials science , conductivity , variable range hopping , thin film , poly(3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene) , chemical engineering , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , composite material , thermal conduction , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
The well‐known enhanced conductivity of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4‐styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) thin films that is obtained by addition of high‐boiling solvents like sorbitol to the aqueous dispersion used for film deposition is shown to be associated with a rearrangement of PEDOT‐rich clusters into elongated domains, as evidenced from STM and AFM. Consistently, temperature dependent conductivity measurements for sorbitol‐treated films reveal that charge transport occurs via quasi 1D variable range hopping (VRH), in contrast to 3D VRH for untreated PEDOT:PSS films. The typical hopping distance of 60–90 nm, extracted from the conductivity measurements is consistent with hopping between the 30–40 nm sized grains observed with scanning probe microscopy.