Facile fabrication of PEDOT:PSS/polythiophenes bilayered nanofilms on pure organic electrodes and their thermoelectric performance.

A pure organic PEDOT:PSS nanofilm was used as a working electrode for the first time to electrodeposit polymer films of polythiophene (PTh) and its derivatives in a boron trifluoride diethyl ether (BFEE) solution, fabricating a novel generation of bilayered nanofilms. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) demonstrated good electrochemical stability of the as-formed films. Structures and surface morphologies were systematically investigated by the characterizations of cross-section SEM, FT-IR, UV-vis, SEM, and AFM. The resulting films revealed stable and enhanced thermoelectric (TE) performances. The electrical conductivity values of PEDOT:PSS/PTh, PEDOT:PSS/P3MeT, and PEDOT:PSS/P3HT nanofilms were determined to be 123.9, 136.5, and 200.5 S cm(-1), respectively. The power factor reached up to be a maximum value of 5.79 μW m(-1) k(-2). Thus, this technique offers a facile approach to a class of bilayered nanofilms, and it may provide a general strategy for fabricating a new generation of conducting polymers for more practical applications.