Abstract
Polyaniline (PANI) is synthesized via oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD) using aniline as monomer and antimony pentachloride as oxidant. Microscopy and spectroscopy indicate that oCVD processing conditions influence the PANI film chemistry, oxidation, and doping level. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicate that a substrate temperature of 90 °C is needed to minimize the formation of oligomers during polymerization. Lower substrate temperatures, such as 25 °C, lead to a film that mostly includes oligomers. Increasing the oxidant flowrate to nearly match the monomer flowrate favors the deposition of PANI in the emeraldine state, and varying the oxidant flowrate can directly influence the oxidation state of PANI. Changing the reactor pressure from 700 to 35 mTorr does not have a significant effect on the deposited film chemistry, indicating that the oCVD PANI process is not concentration dependent. This work shows that oCVD can be used for depositing PANI and for effectively controlling the chemical state of PANI.
Highlights
Conducting polymers (CPs) have attracted considerable attention in recent years for their use in solar cells [1,2,3,4,5,6], batteries [7], supercapacitors [8,9,10,11,12], sensors [13], biosensors [14], and microelectronics [15,16]
Based on the oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD) approach, uniform PANI film depositions were performed on quartz glass substrates, and as seen in Figure 2b, the deposited films can have a vivid green or deep blue color depending on the oCVD conditions
To better understand how PANI film chemistry and properties can be influenced by oCVD deposition conditions, a series of deposition runs that systematically looked at some of the critical oCVD processing variables were carried out (Table 1)
Summary
Conducting polymers (CPs) have attracted considerable attention in recent years for their use in solar cells [1,2,3,4,5,6], batteries [7], supercapacitors [8,9,10,11,12], sensors [13], biosensors [14], and microelectronics [15,16]. As devices continue to decrease in size, the integration of conducting polymers within nanomaterials using conventional solvent-based methods becomes considerably more challenging due to the lack of solubility in common commercial solvents, which limits processability and leads to poor wettability These challenges can be overcome with oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD). OCVD has garnered significant attention in recent years as an advantageous route for depositing conducting polymer thin films without the need of a solvent or a conductive substrate, which naturally makes the process amenable in a wide range of applications [17,21] Other methods such as plasmaenhanced CVD (PECVD) have previously been used to make conformal and uniform polymer films. Resonant infrared laser vapor deposition (RIR-LVP) has been used to deposit PEDOT but conductivity and morphology were highly dependent on the solvent matrix and the laser irradiation wavelength, and MAPLE led to a film that was electrically insulating [26]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
