We thank Dr. Albert J. J. M. van Breemen of TNO Science and Industry and Dr. Margreet de Kok of Philips for providing materials and discussions. A. M. Nardes acknowledges the Alβan Program (the European Union Programme of High Level Scholarships for Latin America, ID#E03D19439BR) for the financial support.
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Full Paper
A Morphological Model for the Solvent-Enhanced Conductivity of PEDOT:PSS Thin Films†
Article first published online: 11 MAR 2008
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.200700796
Copyright © 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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How to Cite
Nardes, A. M., Janssen, R. A. J. and Kemerink, M. (2008), A Morphological Model for the Solvent-Enhanced Conductivity of PEDOT:PSS Thin Films. Adv. Funct. Mater., 18: 865–871. doi: 10.1002/adfm.200700796
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Publication History
- Issue published online: 26 MAR 2008
- Article first published online: 11 MAR 2008
- Manuscript Revised: 9 NOV 2007
- Manuscript Received: 18 JUL 2007
- Abstract
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- Thin films;
- Conductivity;
- Scanning probe microscopy;
- Organic electronics
Abstract
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.