Boosting the Performance of PEDOT:PSS Based Electronics Via Ionic Liquids.

ABSTRACT

The conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOTPSS) offers superior advantages in electronics due to its remarkable combination of high electrical conductivity, excellent biocompatibility, and mechanical flexibility, making it an ideal material among electronic skin, health monitoring, and energy harvesting and storage. Nevertheless, pristine PEDOTPSS films exhibit limitations in terms of both low conductivity and stretchability; while, conventional processing techniques cannot enhance these properties simultaneously, facing the dilemma that highly conductive interconnected PEDOTPSS domains are susceptible to tensile strain. Via modifying PEDOTPSS with ionic liquids (ILs), not only a synergistic enhancement of the electrical and mechanical properties can be achieved but also the requirements for the printable bioelectronic are satisfied. In this comprehensive review, the task of providing a thorough examination of the mechanisms and applications of ILs as modifiers for PEDOTPSS is undertaken. First, the theoretical mechanisms governing the interactions between ILs and PEDOTPSS are discussed in detail. Then, the enhanced properties and the elucidation of the underlying mechanisms achieved through the incorporation of ILs are reviewed. Next, specific applications of ILs-modified PEDOTPSS relevant to bioelectronic devices are presented. Last, there is a concise summary and a discussion regarding the opportunities and challenges in this exciting field.