PEDOT - properties and technical relevance

Knud Reuter, Stephan Kirchmeyer and Andreas Elschner 

Handbook of Thiophene-based Materials Applications in Organic Electronics and Photonics Edited by Igor F. Perepichka and Dmitrii F. Po-epichka 

Early progress in polythiophene chemistry was achieved by the synthesis of mono- and dialkoxy-substituted thiophene derivatives developed by Leclerc s group [6], industrial scientists at Hoechst [7-9] and Japanese researchers [10, 11], However, most polymers of mono- and dialkoxythiophenes exhibited low conductivity in the oxidized, doped state. A breakthrough in this area was the synthesis of polymers of the bicyclic 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and its derivatives - electrochemically polymerized by Heinze and co-workers and chemically polymerized by Heywang and Jonas of the Bayer Corporate Research Laboratories [12, 13]. In contrast to the non-bicyclic polymers of mono- and dialkoxythiophenes, poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) has a very stable and highly conductive cationic doped state. The low HOMO-LUMO bandgap of conductive PEDOT [14] allowed the formation of a tremendously stable, highly conductive ICP. Technical use and commercialization quickly followed today, ICPs based on PEDOT are commercially available in multi-ton quantities. 

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Reuter, K., Kirchmeyer, S., Elschner, A. PEDOT-Properties and Technical Relevance, Handb. Thiophene-Based Mater, pp. 549-576. Wiley, Hoboken (2009)... 

The text covers all relevant aspects of PEDOT beginning with a historical view on conducting polymers and polythiophenes, in particular. The story continues by describing the invenhon of PEDOT based on the development of the suitable monomer EDOT and subsequent important polymerization routes to the conducting polymer. The properties of PEDOT depend on counterions, which led to the development of PEDOTPSS, or poly(3,4-ethyl-enedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate), dispersions, which is the basic form of the commercial product. In the second part of the book, important applications in electronics and organic electronics concomitant with technical and commercial aspects are extensively described. 

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