Liu Jinglin, Wei Bin, Sloppy Jennifer D, Ouyang Liangqi, Ni Chaoying, Martin David C
Materials Science and Engineering and ∥Biomedical Engineering, The University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States.
Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States.
ACS Macro Lett. 2015 Sep 15;4(9):897-900. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.5b00479. Epub 2015 Aug 11.
Conjugated polymers are electronically and ionically active organic materials of interest for use in a variety of devices. Electrochemical deposition is a convenient method for precisely fabricating conjugated polymer thin films, yet a detailed, quantitative understanding of nucleation and growth mechanisms has remained elusive. Here, we report direct imaging of the in situ electrochemical deposition of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) from an aqueous solution of EDOT monomer using Transmission Electron Microscopy with an electrochemical liquid flow cell. We found that PEDOT deposition began preferentially at the edge of the glassy carbon anodes at the beginning of the reaction. Fluctuating clusters of liquid-like oligomers were observed to form near the electrode surfaces. As the reaction continued, both the nucleation of new domains as well as the growth of pre-existing PEDOT deposits were observed, leading to systematic increases in film thickness and roughness.
共轭聚合物是一类具有电子和离子活性的有机材料，在各种器件中具有应用价值。电化学沉积是精确制备共轭聚合物薄膜的一种便捷方法，然而，对成核和生长机制的详细定量理解仍然难以捉摸。在此，我们报告了使用配备电化学液体流通池的透射电子显微镜对聚（3,4-乙撑二氧噻吩）（PEDOT）从EDOT单体水溶液中进行原位电化学沉积的直接成像。我们发现，在反应开始时，PEDOT沉积优先在玻碳阳极的边缘开始。观察到在电极表面附近形成了类似液体的低聚物波动簇。随着反应的继续，观察到新区域的成核以及先前存在的PEDOT沉积物的生长，导致薄膜厚度和粗糙度系统性增加。
