Increasing Volume in Conjugated Polymers to Facilitate Electrical Doping with Phosphomolybdic Acid

Molecular p-type electrical dopants have been proven useful to fine-tune the optoelectronic properties of bulk organic semiconductors and their interfaces. Here, the volume in polymer films and its role in solution-based electrical p-type doping using phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) are studied. The polymer film volume was controlled using two approaches. One is based on heating both the PMA solution and the film prior to immersion. The second is based on coating the polymer film with a liquid blend that contains the PMA solution and a swelling solvent. 31P NMR and FTIR experiments indicate that the Keggin structure appears to be preserved throughout the doping process. Results show that increasing the polymer volume facilitates the infiltration of the PMA Keggin structure, which results in an increased electrical p-type doping level.