Abstract
Organic Electronics is an interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research field leading to innovative applications and products like ultra-thin and high-efficient organic LED displays, light-weight and transparent organic solar cells or printed organic field-effect transistors (to name only few). The core functional materials in such devices are organic (semi-)conductors like conjugated polymers, oligomers or small molecules. As a sequel to our former contribution in the World Journal of Chemical Education (Vol 6, No. 1), we present in this paper a hands-on, quick and easy experiment for the synthesis of the (semi-)conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS. This experiment can be integrated into laboratory trainings and enriches the portfolio for teachers and lab-instructors dealing with organic electronics.
Highlights
It is vitally important to equip today’s students with scientific literacy in order for the generation to understand technological developments that influence modern society
We have developed a material-kit for building low-cost Organic LED (OLED) and Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) devices based on conjugated polymers [4]
That one does not necessarily need expensive lab equipment and a complex reaction process to synthesize the conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS
Summary
It is vitally important to equip today’s students with scientific literacy in order for the generation to understand technological developments that influence modern society. It is necessary to ensure that cutting edge research in these area finds its way into the classroom, giving students an opportunity to perform experiments that provide hands-on experience with these materials. We have developed a material-kit for building low-cost Organic LED (OLED) and Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) devices based on conjugated polymers [4]. We have developed an experiment for the quick and easy synthesis of the semiconducting polymer MEH-PPV, which can be used in our low-cost devices [5,6]. This contribution presents our latest work, the quick and easy oxidative synthesis of the (semi-) conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS, poly[(3,4-ethylenedioxy)thiophene] poly(styrenesulfonate). The following article describes the basic theoretical backgrounds on the synthesis and characterization of PEDOT:PSS along with the detailed description of the hands-on experiment for teaching purposes
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