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Influence of PEG‐ ran ‐PPG Surfactant on Vapour Phase Polymerised PEDOT Thin Films
Author(s) -
Fabretto Manrico,
Müller Michael,
Zuber Kamil,
Murphy Peter
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200900371
Subject(s) - pedot:pss , quartz crystal microbalance , materials science , ethylene glycol , polymerization , chemical engineering , polymer , conductivity , pulmonary surfactant , polymer chemistry , peg ratio , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , adsorption , finance , economics , engineering
The oxidant, Fe(III) tosylate, was used in the vapour phase polymerisation (VPP) of PEDOT. The amphiphilic co‐polymer poly(ethylene glycol‐ ran ‐propylene glycol) was added and its influence examined. Both the PEDOT conductivity and optical contrast range increased with the inclusion of the co‐polymer, with the maximum being recorded at 4 wt.‐%. Loadings higher than this resulted in a systematic decrease in both conductivity and optical contrast. Evidence indicates that in addition to the beneficial anti‐crystallisation effect to the oxidant layer, the co‐polymer also reduces the effective reactivity of the oxidant, as demonstrated by slower polymerisation rates. Confirmation of the change in polymerisation rate was obtained using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The slower polymerisation rate results in higher conductivity and optical contrast; however, XPS data confirmed that the co‐polymer remained within the PEDOT film post‐washing and this result explains why the performance decreases at high surfactant loadings.