Conductive channel formation for enhanced electrical conductivity of PEDOT:PSS with high work-function

摘要

In this study, we report a facile electrical conductivity improvement method for poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly (4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), which is one of the most widely studied conductive polymers and used for many electronic applications. From our study, we successfully demonstrated that simple hydroquinone (HQ) addition to pristine PEDOT:PSS aqueous solution can dramatically increase the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS thin film from 0.7 S/cm to 1394 S/cm even without removal of an insulator-like PSS from coated PEDOT:PSS thin film. We demonstrated that this superior conductivity enhancement without PSS removal is originated from promoted phase separation between conductive PEDOT and insulating PSS after HQ addition which acts as a proton (H+) donor for PEDOT:PSS. Due to our conductivity enhancement method excluding PSS-removal, high work-function property of PEDOT:PSS is also well preserved which is highly crucial for optoelectronic device application of conductive PEDOT:PSS as a transparent electrode.