MOLECULAR SELF-ASSEMBLY OF CONDUCTING POLYMERS

A new molecular self-assembly process based on the alternate depositio n of a p-type-doped electrically conductive polymer and a conjugated o r non-conjugated polyanion has been developed. In this process, monola yers of electrically conductive polymers are spontaneously adsorbed on to a substrate from dilute solutions and subsequently built up into m ultilayer thin films by alternate deposition with a soluble polyanion. To date, we have successfully utilized this technique to assemble thi n films of polypyrrole, polyaniline and poly(3-hexylthiophene). Conduc tivities as high as 40 S cm-1 can be readily obtained on films contain ing as few as four deposited layers. Since it is a layer-by-layer depo sition process, it is also possible to use this approach to fabricate complex multilayer thin films containing layers of different conductin g polymers. The ability to readily fabricate multilayer thin films of doped conducting polymers via a molecular self-assembly process opens up completely new vistas with regard to the thin film processing of co nducting polymers and related electroactive materials.