Printing PEDOT from EDOT via plasma-assisted inkjet printing

Abstract

We demonstrate the simultaneous polymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomer stock solution ink and printing of the resulting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) via plasma-assisted inkjet printing. The plasma-induced polymerization of EDOT is confirmed via Raman and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopies of the printed line. Furthermore, we also achieve plasma-induced polymerization of PEDOT with poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) for the synthesis of an electrically conductive film from EDOT. Consequently, we fabricate a PEDOT/PSS film with conductivity of the order of 10−2 Scm−1 on a borosilicate glass substrate. Our approach achieves (i) direct patterning with PEDOT polymerization and (ii) doping with PEDOT polymerization as separate processes, and our results suggest that on-site printing of conductive PEDOT/PSS with polymerization is possible through the use of an inkjet system with resistance to even the strong acidity of PSS.