Conductivity vs. Temperature Measurement for PEDOT:PSS

Conducting polymers can be applied to a broad range of specialties, such as solar cells, light-diodes, sensors and other optoelectronics. In particular, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), a conducting polymer, is the most popular due to its high conductivity and stability. It has been used widely as contact material in solar cells, which may operate at different temperatures other than room temperature. Because of this, it is important to examine how the polymer, and its characteristics, are affected at different temperatures, which ultimately affect the performance of the polymer and its application in solar cells.

In this study, we show the temperature dependence of conductivity measurement of the PEDOT:PSS. The PEDOT:PSS samples with different conductivities were studied under diferrent temperatures, using a temperature-varying device. It was found that the PEDOT:PSS samples exhibit an Arrhenius behavior as a function of temperature (σ = σ₀ exp(−E_σ /kT ). From the results that we collected we were able to obtain the activation energy of the samples.