Highly conductive polymer films with tunable optical properties obtained by in solution-doping of PEDOT:PSS

PEDOT:PSS is one of the most known conductive polymers, but, despite its great popularity and numerous studies carried on it, the scientific production still shows a lack on this material. This concerns the acidic doping carried by H2SO4 by an in-solution approach. Hence, the aim of this work was to investigate the effects due to the direct acidification of PEDOT:PSS solution. This thesis thus presents a step-by-step study of this novel approach, describing the characteristics of the pristine polymer first, and of its acidified forms then. Results obtained showed a marked improvement of the electrical properties, with also a great versatility in terms of optical and tribological features, until obtaining a plastic, free-standing material with high potentiality. The mechanism behind the proposed method is described, suppling new insights and perspectives. Finally, a novel approach of the block copolymer self-assembly is also described as a use proposal of the material developed.