Incorporation of single-walled carbon nanotubes with PEDOT/PSS in DMSO for the production of transparent conducting films

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were incorporated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/ poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent for preparing flexible transparent conducting films on polyethylene terephthalate substrate by using the spray coating method. The best SWCNT-PEDOT/PSS-DMSO film showed high performance with a low sheet resistance of 118 Omega/sq and a high transmittance of 90.5%. The conducting mechanism of SWCNT-PEDOT/PSS-DMSO films was investigated by using both atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, and the improved performance was attributed to the following: (1) the uniform transparency of SWCNTs across the whole visible light spectrum overcame the undesirable transmittance of PEDOT/PSS films, (2) the conducting SWCNTs instead of insulating excess PSS provided the bridges between the conductive PEDOT/PSS grains, (3) the conductive PEDOT/PSS materials between SWCNT networks reduced the contact resistance between SWCNTs, and (4) the electronic interaction between SWCNTs and PEDOT increased the electronic mobility of the whole films. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.