Nanostructured conducting polymers PEDOT

Various kinds of conducting polymers can work as coimter electrode in DSSC. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), polypyrrole (PPy), PANI are most investigated polymer materials. With the development of nanomaterial, the nanostructure has been introduced into previously mentioned polymers. These polymers are readily deposited by either chemical or electrochemical polymerization process. And they are readily modified into aligned nanostructure that might enhance charge transport and surface area simultaneously (Sun et al., 2015a). 

There are various methods to synthesize polymer nanostructures, i.e., template synthesis, chiral reactions, self-assembly, interfacial polymerization and electrospinning. Recent developments in conducting polymer nanotubes and nanofibers were summarized by Long et al. Different preparation methods, physical properties, and potential applications of one-dimensional nanostructures of conjugated polyaniline (PANI), pol5 3nrole (PPy) and poly (3, 4-ethylenediox3d hiophene) (PEDOT) were discussed. 

Despite significant efforts, the types of conducting polymers are limited to PHT, PPy, PA, PANI, PEDOT, polyphenylenes (PP), poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV), and a few others. Here, some significant results on PANI, PPy, and PEDOT conducting polymers and their nanostructures are briefly reviewed as follows. 

Different behaviors and sometimes controversial results have been reported for membrane-templated nanostructures of PEDOT, showing room-temperature conductivity from roughly 60 S cm to 550 S cm and a prevalently two-dimensional VRHM transport at very small diameters (35 nm). This behavior can be rationalized by considering a heterogeneous internal structure in the wires, with an external, more conductive shell, which is likely related to a higher conformational order of the polymer chains near the walls... 

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