Ultrafast near-infrared curing of PEDOT:PSS

Abstract

In the printed electronics industry, in order to produce conducting layers of suitably low resistance (<0.015Ωcm) PEDOT:PSS solutions are attractive as transparent conductors. The wet film is currently heated using conventional convection ovens at temperatures of 120–140°C for several minutes. Near infrared (NIR) radiation curing is shown to reduce the minimum drying time from 240s in a conventional oven (giving 0.014Ωcm) to 2s (giving 0.011Ωcm). Here we show it is the NIR absorbance of the PEDOT:PSS itself that gives rise to the rapid curing and this limits the energy density of NIR used.