Enhanced chemical and physical properties of PEDOT doped with anionic polyelectrolytes prepared from acrylic derivatives and application to nanogenerators

Acrylic monomers, 4-hydroxybutyl acrylate (HBA) and 2-carboxyethyl acrylate (CEA), were each co-polymerized with styrene sulfonate in 10 mol% ratio to synthesize two types of anionic polyelectrolytes, P(SS-co-HBA) and P(SS-co-CEA), respectively. Through oxidative polymerization, two types of PEDOT composites (PEDOT:P(SS-co-HBA) and PEDOT:P(SS-co-CEA)) were synthesized, to which the anionic templates were applied as dopants. The composites were similar to PEDOT:PSS; however, crosslinking occurred with an increase in annealing temperature after film casting, which increased the electrical conductivity and hydrophobicity. The composites were applied as electrodes to PVDF-based piezoelectric nanogenerators (PNGs) having an electrode/PVDF/electrode structure. The output voltage, current, and maximum output power of PNG-2D(60) (PEDOT:P(SS-co-HBA)) annealed at a mild temperature (60 °C) were 4.12 V, 817.3 nA, and 847.5 nW, respectively, while those of PNG-3D(60) (PEDOT:P(SS-co-CEA)) annealed at 60 °C were 3.75 V, 756.5 nA, and 716.9 nW, respectively. Thus, the composites showed 13.4% and 11.3% improvements in the maximum output power compared with that of PNG-2D & 3D(RT) dried at room temperature, respectively. These results indicated 27.4% and 7.8% improvements, respectively, compared with PNG-1D(60) in which PEDOT:PSS without any crosslinking effect was applied. The PNGs demonstrated high potential as power sources owing to their sensitivity and excellent charging voltage performance for a 1 μF capacitor.