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Effects of organic additives on film characteristics of flexible PEDOT:PSS/latex

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Abstract

In this work, organic additives were incorporated into a flexible conductive film based on natural rubber latex (NRL) and PEDOT:PSS to improve both its electrical and mechanical properties. The additives, which included carbon black (CB), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and polypyrrole (PPy), were dispersed in the PEDOT:PSS with NRL film. The resulting films exhibited enhanced electrical and mechanical stability, as well as improved responsiveness to compressive stimuli. The CB acted as a crosslinker of isoprene chains and enhanced charge percolation, providing higher electrical and mechanical stability. The rGO contributed to increased mechanical strength and slower relaxation time, while the PPy contributed to percolation and a higher number of conductive polymer chains in the blend. The best electromechanical performance was achieved with a blend containing 3.5 CB, 10.0 rGO, and 5.0 PPy, with initial resistivities of 2.3 ± 0.2 Ω cm, 3.4 ± 0.2 Ω cm, and 1.8 ± 0.2 Ω cm, and moduli of elasticity of 90.4 KPa, 85.7 KPa, and 134.6 KPa, respectively. These improvements suggest that the new compositions may be useful for a range of applications, including bioelectronics and piezoresistive devices.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. P. N. Lisboa Filho and Prof. V. F. Ximenes for FTIR measurements, Prof. C. R. Grandini for Scanning Electron Microscopy in the multiuser laboratory, and to Prof. G. Bannach and C. Gaglieri for TGA/DTG measurements and analysis in the Laboratory of Thermal Analysis.

Funding

This work was supported by FAPESP (Grant Nos. 2013/07296-2, 2017/20809-0, 2020/04721-8, 2021/03379-7, 2022/00410-3) and CAPES (Grant Nos. 88887.600230/2021-00).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sciences, Department of Physics, São Paulo State University (Unesp), Bauru, SP, 17033-360, Brazil

    Rafael Aparecido da Silva, Miguel Henrique Boratto, Roberto Ramos Aguiar Jr., João Victor Morais Lima, Lucas Michelão Martins, Natan Luis Nozella & Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Graeff

  2. School of Sciences, POSMAT - Postgraduate Program in Materials Science and Technology, São Paulo State University (Unesp), Bauru, SP, 17033-360, Brazil

    Rafael Aparecido da Silva, João Victor Morais Lima, Lucas Michelão Martins, Natan Luis Nozella & Carlos Frederico de Oliveira Graeff

  3. Electrical Engineering Division, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Miguel Henrique Boratto

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by RAS, MHB and JVML. The first draft of the manuscript was written by RAS and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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da Silva, R.A., Boratto, M.H., Aguiar, R.R. et al. Effects of organic additives on film characteristics of flexible PEDOT:PSS/latex. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 1488 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10911-y

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