High-conversion synthesis of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) by chemical oxidative polymerization

High-conversion synthesis of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) by chemical oxidative polymerization was studied. Hydrolysis of oxidative agent, and effects of polymerization temperature and time were taken into account. Unlike iron chloride, the oxidative agent of iron sulfate can be effectively used at high temperature, due to the absence of obvious hydrolysis. In addition, high polymerization temperature and long reaction time led to dramatically increase of conversion. Moreover, the structure, morphology and electrical conductivity of the prepared PEDOT with high-conversion had not been changed obviously, when compared with the common low-conversed product obtained at low temperature with short reaction time.