In situ monitoring of polarons in a mixed conducting polymer using ultrafast transient absorption spectroelectrochemistry

Abstract

Organic mixed ionic–electronic conducting polymers remain at the forefront of materials development for bioelectronic device applications. During electrochemical operation, structural dynamics and variations in electrostatic interactions in the polymer occur, which affect dual transport of the ions and electronic charge carriers. Such effects remain unclear due to a lack of in situ spectroscopic methods capable of capturing these dynamics, which hinders the rational design of higher-performance polymers. Herein, we present the first in situ transient absorption spectroelectrochemical measurement of a conducting polymer in the near-infrared, where photoexcited charge carrier dynamics are used to directly probe their nanoscale environment and trapping behavior in working electrodes. In this method, voltage is applied to charge or discharge the polymer, and the picosecond relaxation dynamics of directly photoexcited charge carriers are spectroscopically monitored to relate their location within the heterogeneous polymer nanostructure to their transport behavior. Applying this technique to working PEDOT:PSS electrodes, we investigated the impacts of voltage-induced changes in polymer chain packing and ion–carrier interactions on charge trapping. At lower voltages, carriers initially form within J-aggregated PEDOT chains that are deeply trapped due to strong electrostatic coupling to PSS⁻ counterions. At higher voltages, the PEDOT lamellae expand and charge–ion pairs enter the PEDOT-rich domains, where trapping is decreased and carriers delocalize among the more tightly stacked, H-aggregated PEDOT chains. Further, this in situ spectroscopic method can also be more broadly applied to study electrochemical dynamics in accumulation-mode and n-type polymer electrodes and electrochemical transistors.