Metallic Interaction in Polythiophene-Ti Plasma Composites

J. Cuauhtémoc Palacios, Ma. Guadalupe Olayo, Guillermo J. Cruz

Departamento de Física, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Ocoyoacac, México.
Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Toluca, México.

DOI: 10.4236/ojpchem.2013.32007                

Abstract

This work presents a study about the structure and morphology of thin plasma composite films of polythiophene (PTh) with metallic particles of Ti (PTh-Ti). The objective was to study the water affinity and electric conductivity in PTh with the addition of metallic phases. The hydrophilicity was studied with the contact angles formed between water and surfaces, and the electric conductivity was calculated with the resistance measured in a two-probe device. The structure and morphology of the composites were studied with X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that PTh-Ti formed thin films of hybrid composites with oxidized Ti and Fe additional particles released from the electrodes used in the syntheses. The metallic fraction resulted in 2 diffraction angles at 31.6° and 66.1° product of the complex interaction among Ti, resembling orthorhombic TiO₂ structures, and PTh. The metallic particles and iodine, added as a dopant to the composites to increase conductivity, reduced the hydrophilicity with water in a competition between roughness and chemical composition. In these conditions, the contact angles resulted between 46° and 75°. The electric conductivity was about 10^-6 S/m increasing one order of magnitude with the metallic fraction. However, the high resistance of the polymeric fraction apparently dominates the transference of charges.

Keywords

Polythiophene; Titanium; Composites; Plasma

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Q. Qiao and J. McLeskey, “Water-Soluble Polythiophene/ Nanocrystalline TiO2 Solar Cells,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 86, No. 12, 2005, Article ID: 153501. doi:10.1063/1.1900300
[2]	N. Gerein, M. Fleischauer and M. Brett, “Effect of TiO2 Film Porosity and Thermal Processing on TiO2-P3HT Hybrid Materials and Photovoltaic Device Performance,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 94, No. 12, 2010, pp. 2343-2350.
[3]	B. Reeja-Jayan and A. Manthiram, “Influence of Polymer Metal Interface on the Photovoltaic Properties and Long Term Stability of nc-TiO2-P3HT Hybrid Solar Cells,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 94, No. 5, 2010, pp. 907-914.
[4]	J. Chandrasekaran, D. Nithyaprakash, S. Maruthamuthu, D. Manoharan and S. Kumar, “Hybrid Solar Cell Based on Blending of Organic and Inorganic Materials—An Over view,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2011, pp. 1228-1238. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2010.09.017
[5]	J. C. Palacios, G. J. Cruz, M. G. Olayo and J. ChávezCar vayar, “Characterization of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Polythiophene-Silver-Copper Thin Film Composites Synthesized by DC Glow Discharges,” Surface and Coatings Technology, Vol. 203, No. 20-21, 2009, pp. 3032-3036. doi:10.1016/j.surfcoat.2009.03.020
[6]	G. J. Cruz, J. C. Palacios, M. G. Olayo, J. Morales and R. Olayo, “Conductivity of Layer and Matrix Polyaniline Silver-Copper Composites by Plasma,” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol. 93, No. 3, 2004, pp. 1031-1036. doi:10.1002/app.20545
[7]	J. C. Palacios, M. G. Olayo, J. Morales, G. J. Cruz and R. Olayo, “Plasma Formation of Polymer-Metal Composites,” International Journal of Polymeric Materials, Vol. 51, No. 6, 2002, pp. 529-536.
[8]	G. Thalluri, J.-C. Bolsée, A. Gadisa, M. Parchine, T. Boonen, J. D’Haen, A. Boyukbayram, J. Vanderbergh, T. Cleij, L. Lutsen, D. Vanderzande and J. Manca, “Opto-Electrical and Morphological Characterization of Water Soluble Conjugated Polymers for Eco-Friendly Hybrid Solar Cells,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 95, No. 12, 2011, pp. 3262-3268.
[9]	A. Di Paola, M. Addamo, M. Bellardita, E. Cazzanelli and L. Palmisano, “Preparation of Photocatalytic Brookite Thin Films,” Thin Solid Films, Vol. 515, No. 7-8, 2007, pp. 3527-3529. doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2006.10.114
[10]	M. P. Moret, R. Zallen, D. P. Vijay and S. B. Desu, “Broo kite-Rich Titania Films Made by Pulsed Laser Deposition,” Thin Solid Films, Vol. 366, No. 1-2, 2000, pp. 8-10. doi:10.1016/S0040-6090(00)00862-2