All-polymeric flexible transparent heaters (THs) are demonstrated for the first time. Thin films of four poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-based materials embedding different dopants exhibit low sheet resistances, down to 57 Ω sq-1 associated with good transparencies (>87%) and a haze lower than 1%. These transparent thin films show excellent heating properties, with high heating rates (up to 1.6 °C s-1) and steady-state temperatures exceeding 100 °C when subjected to 12 V bias. Very high areal power densities were also measured, reaching almost 10 000 W m-2. The temperature increase is finely fitted to a thermal model. It is further demonstrated that these new THs can be efficiently integrated for applications in thermochromic displays and visor deicers.
Keywords: PEDOT; conducting polymers; organic transparent heaters; thin-film heaters; transparent conductive materials.