Flexible textile-based electronic materials assembled with hybrid PEDOT: PSS doped with anionic surfactant

In this work, textiles with sheet resistance less than 10 omega/sq were prepared using impregnation/deposition method through poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) solutions doped with anionic surfactants, providing excellent electrical conductivity. The effects of pretreatment and types of anionic surfactants on sheet resistance were investigated. The results showed that the cotton treated with ethanol could obtain a high conductivity with sheet resistance of 8.02 omega/sq by impregnating the solution with 30 mM sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) for five times. Based on FTIR and XPS characterization, the conductivity enhancement was due to phase separation between PEDOT and PSS. The selective removal of PSS resulted in deposition of PEDOT on the fabric as a conductive component. The electrochemical performances were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), repeated rubbing and washing tests, which proved that the prepared conductive fabrics have ability to act as 'wire' in typical electrode. This simple and effective method to improve conductivity has good wearability and can be used as an electrode for electronic textiles.