Improvement of electrical conductivity of PEDOT:PSS films by 2-Methylimidazole post treatment

• A simple 2-Methylimidazole post treatment was applied to enhance the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS films.
• Mechanism of conductivity enhancement of PEDOT:PSS films was explained.
• Optical properties and surface physics of treated PEDOT:PSS films were investigated.

The electrical conductivity of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) films was significantly improved without losing the optical transparency by treating the films with solution of 2-Methylimidazole in ethanol. The maximum electrical conductivity of such a thin film reached 930 S cm−1, more than 1150 order of magnitude higher than that of pure PEDOT:PSS film. The mechanism of conductivity enhancement of treated thin PEDOT:PSS films was explored by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV/VIS spectrophotometer. The AFM scans show that the surface of the 2-Methylimidazole treated PEDOT:PSS layer is smoother than that of the pristine PEDOT:PSS thin film. Improvement in the morphology, electrical and optical properties of PEDOT:PSS films makes them highly suitable for numerous applications in optoelectronic devices.

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