Electrochemical and XPS studies toward the role of monomeric and polymeric sulfonate counterions in the synthesis, composition, and properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)

• Electrochemically prepared poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDT) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS), produced from acidic (PSSH) and basic (PSSNa) PSS, was characterized by cyclic voltammetry CV, UV-vis spectroscopy, in situ conductivity, and XPS spectroscopy and was compared with electrochemically prepared PEDT/tosylate and chemically prepared PEDT/PSS. CV analysis shows that the polymer synthesis is strongly affected by the nucleophilic character of the counteranion. Although CV and UV-vis spectroscopy show that the structure and degree of polymerization (oligomeric, ca. 10 EDT units) of the PEDT backbone is the same for all polymers, XPS is able to explain the different conductivity values for these materials (ranging from 1 S cm-1 for PEDT/PSSNa to 400-450 S cm-1 for PEDT/tosylate) based on doping level and composition. In particular, critical results are observed to be the ratios between sulfonate and thiophene units in the polymers: the higher the PEDT concentration, the higher the conductivity. XPS also explains by solvent-induced nanometer-scale segregation between PEDT/PSS and excess PSS particles the often reported conductivity enhancement of chemically prepared PEDT/PSS upon treatment with polar solvents.

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