Deposition of conductive polythiophene film on a piezoelectric substrate: effect of corona poling and nano-inclusions

Abstract

Electrically conductive polythiophene (PTh) nanoparticles were deposited on poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) substrate by a facile and rapid chemical oxidative deposition in an organic solvent system. The process afforded conductivity to a piezoelectric PVDF film through deposition of conductive layer on the surface in 12 min. The produced final product was transparent, flexible, conductive and piezoelectric and a good candidate to be used in organic electronics especially as a sensor and capacitor. The effect of corona poling and inclusion of nanoparticles such as nanoclay and carbon nanotubes on electrical conductivity of piezoelectric substrates were studied with high precision. Corona poling modification of substrate made it susceptible for deposition of nanoparticles on surface and meanwhile induced higher orientation and crystallinity which led to higher capacitance. Electrical conductivity of the modified films, without extra doping, was in the order of 10−2 S/cm. Capacitance of the films was measured and the results were promising applications in flexible electronics. Surface morphology, average size, size distribution and samples surface roughness were measured by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. It was observed that PTh surface morphology is an aggregation of globules with narrow size distribution ranging from 20 to 100 nm. EDX Technique was used to study the surface composition. The final product may find very promising applications in a wide range of organic electronics.