Effect of polyethylene oxide on camphor sulfonic acid doped polyaniline thin film field effect transistor with ionic liquid gating

Field effect transistors (FET) using camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) doped polyaniline (PANi) blended with several polyethylene oxide (PEO) concentrations were investigated via ionic liquid gating. The pure PANi-CSA FET could not be turned “off” and had an on/off ratio of 2. Blending with 22wt%-PEO retained a high “on” state throughput current and improved the mobility, while the on/off ratio increased by 10³. Superior film quality and PEO assisted electrostatic long range interactions with the PANi chains led to device parameter enhancement. For higher PEO concentrations the field effect was suppressed due to disorder. Analysis of the UV/Vis spectra polaron band peak area near 810 nm show an increase in the mobility with decrease in the peak area, consistent with the observed results. Enhanced device parameters, high throughput current and low operating voltages (±2V), make PANi-CSA/PEO blends attractive materials for use in low power consumption electronics.