Fabrication, charge carrier transport, and application of printable nanocomposites based on indium tin oxide nanoparticles and conducting polymer 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene/polystyrene sulfonic acid

Printable transparent hybrid composites consisting of indium tin oxide (In2O3:Sn; ITO) nanoparticles and conducting polymer 3,4-polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) as matrix material were developed. The basic idea is to fill up the pores of the highly porous nanoparticulate ITO network to improve the interparticle contact and hence the conductivity of printed ITO thin films. Ready-to-use and stable aqueous dispersions were fabricated starting from ITO nanoparticles and aqueous formulation of conducting PEDOT and polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS). This report presents and discusses key factors to obtain stable ITO-PEDOT dispersions with different mixing ratios and their application for printable devices as transparent electrode material. It was found that the ζ-potential value is crucial for preparation of stable dispersions. Electrical and optical properties of the hybrid ITO-PEDOT coatings were analyzed. Temperature dependent resistivity measurements reveal that conduction occurs by fluctuation induced tunneling. Transparent and conducting nanocomposite layers with a conductivity as high as 132 Ω−1cm−1 were fabricated by a low-temperature (T = 130 °C) and entirely vacuum-free process. An all-printed electroluminescent lamp on a flexible substrate was realized as a demonstrator showing the applicability of such coatings for voltage-driven optoelectronic devices