|
Organic Dopants in Thin Films
Our research is motivated by the desire to find out the effect of large
organic dopants on the properties of thin films deposited on polymer
nanofibers. The potential applications of thin polymer films abound. The
electronics industry, among others, is an area where the demand for thin
films is high. The deposited conducting thin films, coupled with the
small dimensions of the fibers may exhibit interesting new properties.
The incorporation of counterions in the films enhances properties such
as conductivity, mechanical strength, thermal and environmental
stability. In-situ polymerization is the method being employed to coat
non-conducting nanofibers with a thin layer of conducting polymers.
Using the monomers pyrrole and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, thin films of
polypyrrole and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) have been deposited on
polystyrene nanofibers respectively. Techniques employed for the
characterization of the thin films include UV-vis, FTIR, SEM and the
four-probe method.
|
