In situ conductivity studies of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)

In this paper, we report the first in situ conductivity measurements of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), which was grown laterally on large gap lateral growth electrodes (gap distance 200 μm) to give relatively thick films (3.3–22.5 μm) with maximum in situ conductivities of 0.2–13.0 S/cm depending on growth conditions. It was demonstrated that PEDOT can be fully switched from its non-conductive state at −0.6 V to its fully conductive state at +0.1 V versus AgAg+. A negligible effect of solvent (PC, THF, and H2O) and electrolyte (Li(CF3SO2)2N, LiClO4, LiBF4, and TBAP) used during both electropolymerization and redox switching on the in situ conductivity of PEDOT demonstrates the versatility of using PEDOT as a conducting material under a wide variety of conditions.