Fabrication of poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin films by vapor-phase polymerization for optoelectronic device applications

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2009 Jul;1(7):1567-71. doi: 10.1021/am900248z.

Abstract

The vapor-phase polymerization (VPP) of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) was achieved successfully as an alternative method to conventional solution-based thin film fabrication. Using Fe(III)Cl(3).6H(2)O, a spontaneous reaction of 3-hexylthiophene monomers resulted in the rapid formation of conducting P3HT thin films directly on substrates, such as glass, indium-tin-oxide, and poly(ethylene terephthalate), at thicknesses ranging from 50 to 1000 nm. The VPP of P3HT was achieved using ferric chloride hexahydrate and a 1:1 ratio of a methanol/ethanol mixture as the solvent system. The developed VPP technique can provide good processing consistency with an electrical conductivity, a transmittance, and a surface roughness of approximately 10(-2) S/cm, >90%, and <10 nm, respectively.

MeSH terms

  • Equipment and Supplies*
  • Ethanol / chemistry
  • Glass / chemistry
  • Indium / chemistry
  • Materials Testing
  • Methanol / chemistry
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force / methods
  • Optics and Photonics*
  • Polymers / chemistry
  • Solubility
  • Solvents
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet / methods
  • Surface Properties
  • Thiophenes / chemistry*
  • Tin Compounds / chemistry
  • Volatilization

Substances

  • Polymers
  • Solvents
  • Thiophenes
  • Tin Compounds
  • poly(3-hexylthiophene)
  • Indium
  • Ethanol
  • stannic oxide
  • Methanol