Issue 11, 2023

A pyridine-capped quaterthiophene as an alternative to PEDOT:PSS, processable from organic solvents and without acidity, for more stable electronic devices

Abstract

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is a material that has become ubiquitous in the field of organic electronics. It is most commonly used as a hole transport layer (HTL) in optoelectronic devices and can be purchased commercially in various formulations with different properties. Whilst it is a most convenient material to work with, there are stability issues associated with PEDOT:PSS that are detrimental to device stability and these are due to the acidic nature of the PSS component. In this paper, we present a molecular, non-acidic alternative to PEDOT:PSS. The parent structure is composed of a quater(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) unit capped either side of the short chain with two pyridine units. This compound, termed (BEDOTPy)2, can be prepared chemically and electrochemically to give doped materials with a choice of counteranions. Further functionalisation via quaternisation at the nitrogen atoms allows for modification of solubility and film-forming properties. The conductivity of the doped samples can reach up to 3.75 S cm−1. The materials are non-acidic and are therefore attractive alternatives to PEDOT:PSS for device applications. We demonstrate an OLED device using the compound (BEDOTPy-EtOH-I)2PF6 as an HTL, and compare the device performance to one made with PEDOT:PSS. Due to the non-acidic nature of the molecular material, the corresponding OLED device does not show a drop in luminance over time, whereas a loss of performance is observed for the device containing PEDOT:PSS over a short period. These results are presented to introduce the parent compound (BEDOTPy)2 as an attractive alternative to PEDOT:PSS, which can be easily modified chemically to provide a plethora of potential compounds with tunable properties.

Graphical abstract: A pyridine-capped quaterthiophene as an alternative to PEDOT:PSS, processable from organic solvents and without acidity, for more stable electronic devices

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
09 Jūl. 2023
Accepted
31 Aug. 2023
First published
31 Aug. 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Mater. Horiz., 2023,10, 5087-5098

A pyridine-capped quaterthiophene as an alternative to PEDOT:PSS, processable from organic solvents and without acidity, for more stable electronic devices

E. J. Hussien, J. Cameron, N. J. Findlay, R. G. D. Taylor, M. Johnson, L. Kanibolotska, A. L. Kanibolotsky and P. J. Skabara, Mater. Horiz., 2023, 10, 5087 DOI: 10.1039/D3MH01060K

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