Abstract

Poly (3, 4-ethylene dioxy thiophene)/ poly (styrene sulfonic acid) conductive polymer was deposited on glass substrates through Dip-coating method. These films were subjected to hydrogen plasma in order to evaluate the probability of resistivity reduction. Their electro-optical behavior and structure were studied before and after this process. Hydrogenation at a substrate temperature of 80°C for 30 min reduced the electrical resistance around 22.3%, without considerable decrease in optical transmittance. Van der Pauw measurements showed that the hydrogenation process had increased the mobility of samples (approx. by 84.8%). SEM micrographs displayed the reduction in domain sizes and elimination of void spaces among them. Hence increase in the conductivity can be essentially attributed to deactivation of 'dangling bonds' associated with the structural defects in PEDT/PSS films.

Key words: PEDT/PSS conductive polymer, transparent conducting thin films, hydrogen plasma, hydrogenation process, dangling bonds, electrical passivation of structural defects.