Aqueous dispersions of electrically conducting polymers containing high boiling solvent and additives
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to electrically conductive polymer compositions, and their use in electronic devices. The compositions are an aqueous dispersion of at least one electrically conductive polymer doped with a non-fluorinated polymeric acid, at least one high-boiling polar organic solvent, and an additive selected from the group consisting of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and combinations thereof.
1. An aqueous dispersion capable of forming a film having a conductivity of at least 360 S/cm comprising:
at least one electrically conductive polymer comprising a polythiophene doped with a non-fluorinated polymeric acid polymer comprising poly(styrenesulfonic acid);
at least one high-boiling polar solvent, and
an additive selected from the group consisting of fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and combinations thereof.
2. The dispersion of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive polymer comprising a polythiophene is selected from the group consisting of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), poly(thieno(2,3-b)thiophene), poly(thieno(3,2-b)thiophene), and poly(thieno(3,4-b)thiophene).
3. The dispersion of claim 1 wherein the amount of doped conducting polymer in the composite dispersion is in the range of from 0.1% to 5% by weight based on the total weight of the dispersion.
4. The dispersion of claim 1 wherein an additive is a fullerene.
5. The dispersion of claim 4 wherein the fullerene is selected from the group consisting of C60, C60-PCMB, C70, C70-PCBM, and combinations thereof.
6. The dispersion of claim 1 wherein the amount of additive present is in the range of from 0.2% to 50% by weight based on the total weight of the dispersion.
7. The dispersion of claim 1 wherein the solvent has a boiling point of at least 120° C.
8. The dispersion of claim 1 wherein the solvent is present in the composite dispersion in the range of from 1% to 15% by weight based on the total weight of the dispersion.
9. The dispersion of claim 1 having a pH greater than 2.
10. A film made from the dispersion of claim 1 .
11. The film of claim 10 having a conductivity of at least 440 S/cm.
12. An electronic device comprising at least one layer made from the dispersion of claim 1 .
13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the layer is an anode.
14. The dispersion of claim 1 wherein the at least one polar solvent is selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylacetamide, N-methylpyrrolidone, and mixtures thereof, the fullerene is selected from the group consisting of C60, C60-PCBM, C70, C70-PCBM, and mixtures thereof, the carbon nanotube is HIPco CE608, and mixtures of the nanotube and fullerenes.