Significant conductivity enhancement of conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) films through a treatment with organic carboxylic acids and inorganic acids.

Significant conductivity enhancement was observed on transparent and conductive poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) films after a treatment with organic and inorganic acids, including acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, oxalic acid, sulfurous acid, and hydrochloric acid. The conductivity could be enhanced from 0.2 to over 200 S cm(-1), that is, by a factor of more than 1000. The conductivity enhancement was dependent on the structure of the acids and the experimental conditions during the treatment, such as the acid concentration and the temperature. The optimal temperature was in the range of 120 to 160 degrees C. The resistance dropped rapidly when a PEDOT:PSS film was treated with acid solution of high concentration, whereas it gradually increased and then decreased when it was treated with an acid solution of low concentration. The mechanism for this conductivity enhancement was studied by various chemical and physical characterizations. The temperature dependence of conductivity indicates that the energy barrier for charge hopping among the PEDOT chains become lower in the highly conductive PEDOT:PSS film after the acid treatment. The ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR) absorption spectroscopy, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicate the loss of polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSSH) chains from the PEDOT:PSS film after the acid treatment, and the atomic force microscopy (AFM) suggest conformational change of the polymer chains. Therefore, the conductivity enhancement is attributed to the loss of PSSH chains from the PEDOT:PSS film and the conformational change of the PEDOT chains, which are induced by the acids.