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Aqueous Formulation of Concentrated Semiconductive Fluid Using Polyelectrolyte Coacervation.
My Linh Le1, Dakota Rawlings2, Scott P O Danielsen3
1Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.
ACS Macro Letters
|May 13, 2022
Summary
Conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) can now be processed in water using polyelectrolyte coacervation. This method enhances conductivity and conjugation length in PEDOT-S films, enabling efficient aqueous processing of semiconductive materials.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Chemistry
- Electrochemistry
Background:
- Conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) offer tunable optoelectronic properties but often exhibit limited aqueous solubility.
- Developing water-processable conjugated polymers is crucial for sustainable and scalable manufacturing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate polyelectrolyte coacervation for high-loading aqueous processing of conjugated polymers.
- To enhance the optoelectronic properties of alkoxysulfonate-substituted PEDOT (PEDOT-S) via coacervation.
Main Methods:
- Formation of complex coacervates between PEDOT-S and poly(3-methyl-1-propylimidazolylacrylamide) (PA-MPI).
- Characterization of coacervate properties, including polymer loading and film formation via blade-coating.
- Assessment of electrical conductivity and spectroscopic analysis (e.g., conjugation length) after acid doping.
Main Results:
- A viscous coacervate fluid with 50% w/v polymer loading was successfully formed.
- Blade-coating yielded uniform films of 4 ± 0.5 μm thickness.
- Doped coacervate films exhibited doubled electrical conductivity compared to neat PEDOT-S films, with enhanced conjugation length.
Conclusions:
- Polyelectrolyte coacervation enables efficient aqueous processing of conjugated polymers at high concentrations.
- This approach improves the electrical conductivity and conjugation length of PEDOT-S.
- Electrostatic interactions offer a pathway for sustainable, large-scale industrial processing of advanced semiconductive materials.
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