Comparative Analysis of PEDOT and ITO Under Thermal Bending and Cycling Stresses: Implications for Flexible Solar Cells

Abstract

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) are widely used in electronic devices, but their stability under thermal stress is a concern. Both PEDOT and ITO are susceptible to thermal stress, but their stability depends on the temperature and duration of exposure. To ensure long-term stability, it is essential to use appropriate thermal management techniques and stable materials. ITO has good mechanical stability under stretching and bending, while PEDOT can withstand high strains. Flexible solar cells are exposed to heating-cooling cycles, and when the thin film and substrate expand at different rates, residual strains caused by the thermal mismatch occur. ITO is heavily used in flexible solar cells, but indium is scarce and expected to run out within 50 years. PEDOT is a candidate to replace ITO and is currently under intensive research. This paper compares the thermal stability of PEDOT and ITO under thermal bending and cycling stress. In order to investigate the significance of different factors on thin film electrical characteristics, the DOE (design of experiments) tool was used for data collection and analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. The results showed that PEDOT is better than ITO under cyclic bending loading, while ITO is slightly more stable than PEDOT under thermal stress. These findings provide new insights into the behavior of PEDOT and ITO under thermal stress and their potential applications in electronic devices.