Electrical and physicochemical properties of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-based organic–inorganic hybrid conductive thin films

Conductive polymer coating precursors were prepared using poly (3, 4-ehtylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and three kinds of silane precursors (Q type, T type, and bridged T type) through an in-situ organic/inorganic hybrid sol–gel process. The spin-coated precursor films on Poly(ethyleneterephthalate) substrate exhibited fairly good surface resistance (~ 104 Ω/□), transparency (~ 80%) and pencil hardness (2 – 4 H). The solvent resistance of the film using 2, 5-bis (triethoxysilyl)-3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene (BTES-EDOT) was excellent as compared with the films that used silane precursors due to a high degree of BTES-EDOT crosslinking in the hybrid film. Moreover, EDOT moiety in the BTES-EDOT molecule may contribute to homogeneous dispersion of the PEDOT in the organic–inorganic hybrid film.