Fabrication of robust polyaniline thin film electrodes on the surface of elastomeric poly(dimethylsiloxane) for polymeric MEMS applications

In this work, we demonstrated an electrodeless method for preparing robust polyaniline thin films on the surface of poly-(dimethylsiloxane), or PDMS. We found that robust polyaniline thin films can be formed on the PDMS surface if the PDMS surface is treated with oxygen plasma and N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)aniline prior to the deposition of polyaniline. In addition to the enhancement in interfacial adhesion, such polyaniline thin films also showed better conductivity than those deposited on PDMS surface not subject to oxygen plasma and N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)aniline treatment.