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Terahertz complex conductivity of cellulose nanocrystal based composite films controlled with PEDOT:PSS blending ratio

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Abstract

We investigate the terahertz complex conductivity spectra of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) based composite films fabricated with different blending ratios of the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and without/with glycerol additive. A partially localized nature of carriers in the composite is clearly seen in the obtained spectral shapes of complex conductivity and is well described by an extended Drude model. We find that the carriers become denser and less localized with increasing PEDOT:PSS blending ratio and that the addition of glycerol to the composite is efficacious in enhancing carrier delocalization as well as mechanical flexibility.

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Acknowledgments

T.U., O.K., and S.K. thank Prof. Kunihiko Tanaka at Nagaoka University of Technology for letting them use the UV/Vis/NIR spectrophotometer in his laboratory. This work was partly supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP19K21966. J.J.S. acknowledges the Faculty of Science and Forestry at the University of Eastern Finland for the financial support (Grant No. 579/2017), and the Academy of Finland Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN) Flagship Programme (Grant No. 320 166).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical, Electronics and Information Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, 940-2188, Japan

    Takeya Unuma, Omou Kobayashi & Shoya Kotaka

  2. Laboratory of Natural Materials Technology, Center for Functional Materials, Åbo Akademi University, Porthansgatan 3, 20500, Åbo/Turku, Finland

    Rajesh Koppolu & Martti Toivakka

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, 80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Jarkko J. Saarinen

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  1. Takeya Unuma
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  2. Omou Kobayashi
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Correspondence to Takeya Unuma.

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Unuma, T., Kobayashi, O., Kotaka, S. et al. Terahertz complex conductivity of cellulose nanocrystal based composite films controlled with PEDOT:PSS blending ratio. Cellulose 27, 10019–10027 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-020-03464-4

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