Experimental investigations of semi-crystalline plasma polymerized poly(3-octyl thiophene)

Plasma polymerized thin film of conducting poly(3-octylthiophene) was deposited at room temperature by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method using (3-octylthiophene) monomer as precursor. The radio frequency (RF: 13.56 MHz, power supply: 30 W) was applied at constant argon gas pressure for the formation of plasma. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) have been done for the as grown films. As reported in literature polythiophenes prepared by rf plasma polymerization are highly crosslinked and amorphous. However, in present investigations, well defined crystalline regions have been observed by HRTEM investigations and have been correlated with X-ray diffraction data. The observed crystallinity is attributed to controlling the parameters of the synthesis.