The enhancement of electrical and optical properties of PEDOT:PSS using one-step dynamic etching for flexible application

• Published in: Organic electronics Vol. 15; no. 8; pp. 1849 - 1855
• Main Authors: Lim, Kyounga, Jung, Sunghoon, Lee, Seunghun, Heo, Jinhee, Park, Juyun, Kang, Jae-Wook, Kang, Yong-Cheol, Kim, Do-Geun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.08.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Conductivity enhancement; Dynamic etching; Electron, ion, and scanning probe microscopy; Exact sciences and technology; Flexible device; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; PEDOT:PSS; Physics; Scanning probe microscopy: scanning tunneling, atomic force, scanning optical, magnetic force, etc; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Flexible device; Conductivity enhancement; Dynamic etching; PEDOT:PSS; Performance evaluation; Atomic force microscopy; Doping; Etching; Film flow; Methyl sulfoxide; Thiophene derivative polymer; Optical properties; Topography; Optical characteristic; Root mean square value; Electrical characteristic; Polymer blends; Electrical properties; Doped materials; Four point probe; Morphology; Styrenesulfonate polymer; Ultraviolet visible spectrum; Transport processes; Microstructure; X-ray photoelectron spectra
• ISSN: 1566-1199; 1878-5530
• DOI: 10.1016/j.orgel.2014.04.014

[Display omitted] •We have introduced dynamic etching process.•Conductivity of PEDOT:PSS has improved by dynamic etching process.•Morphology and optical property have been progress.•The performance of the device with dynamic etching process was excellent. The conductivity enhancement of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) by dynamic etching process was investigated to introduce the outstanding and simplest method for soft electronics. Four different samples which were pristine PEDOT:PSS, PEDOT:PSS doped with 5wt.% DMSO, PEDOT:PSS with dipping process, and PEDOT:PSS with dynamic etching process were prepared to compare the properties such as conductivity, morphology, relative atomic percentage, and topography. All samples were characterized by four point probe, current atomic force microscopy (C-AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV–visible spectroscopy. The conductivity of the sample with dynamic etching process showed the highest value as 1299S/cm among four samples. We proved that the dynamic etching process is superior to remove PSS phase from PEDOT:PSS film, to flow strong current through entire surface of PEDOT:PSS, and to show the smoothest surface (RMS 2.28nm). XPS analysis was conducted for accurate chemical and structural surface environments of four samples and the relative atomic percentage of PEDOT in the sample with dynamic etching was the highest as 29.5%. The device performance of the sample with the dynamic etching process was outstanding as 10.31mA/cm2 of Jsc, 0.75eV of Voc, 0.46 of FF, and 3.53% of PCE. All properties and the device performance for PEDOT:PSS film by dynamic etching process were the most excellent among the samples.