Preparation and characterization of thin conductive polymer films on the base of PEDOT:PSS by ink-jet printing

Owing to its high application potential, the printed functional layers and devices on flexible substrates attract attention of many scientists, in the last few years. Very promising area is represented by so called printed conductive polymers (polyaniline, polythiophene or polypyrroles, etc.). Currently, the most widespread conductive polymer is so called PEDOT:PSS [poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate)]. A widely used technique for the deposition of this conductive polymer is spin-coating. Since the spin-coating technique is not capable of the fine structure pattering (e.g. electrode systems for organic devices), in some cases, different techniques are strongly required (e.g. ink-jet printing). This work shows the development of the testing structure system to assess and to characterize the fine patterns of PEDOT: PSS. The testing structures were deposited on various substrates; the transparent flexible polymer foils (polyethylenterephtalate and polyethylenenaphtalene) and also on the glass substrate. The influence of the change of printing parameters, substrate and its treatment and are discussed. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.