SBIR Phase II: High Conductivity Photoprintable Conducting Polymers for Polymeric Electronics

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将开发以聚乙烯二氧基噻吩基(PEDOT)为基础的有机可分散和可光致打印的导电聚合物。PEDOT作为薄膜具有高导电性、稳定性和透明性，是电子显示器和设备的首选导电聚合物。然而，它只是一种水分散体，还没有其他人能够将PEDOT分散在有机溶剂中。使PEDOT在有机物中分散是很重要的，因为水与许多半导体工艺步骤不兼容。这个SBIR项目将开发可印刷的导电聚合物，这种聚合物最初是有机分散的，可以浇铸成薄膜，通过选择性地将薄膜暴露在紫外光下，导电图案可以永久固定。不暴露在光线下的材料可以很容易地去除。该项目将开发不含水的基于PEDOT的可印刷导电聚合物，并可用于有机发光二极管(OLED)显示器等电子产品的生产。该项目希望增加对有机可分散导电聚合物的了解。本项目中开发的大量有机可分散导电聚合物将通过一家主要的化学品分销商提供给研究人员。这将促进基础技术的更快传播，并加快使用我们的材料进行更多发现和应用的步伐。这项研究对社会的好处包括减少了电子制造对环境的影响。与无机电子产品生产相比，本提案中提出的打印技术产生的化学废气更少。无机电子制造设施产生大量有毒废物，包括砷和重金属。在分解过程中缺乏毒素对地下水的污染，这对今天努力解决这一问题的市政当局来说是一个加分。此外，这项印刷技术将降低成本，并为消费者提供更多种类的电子设备。这项技术应该会在重量敏感度代表门控因素的领域产生积极影响。

This Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop organic dispersible and photoprintable conducting polymers based on polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT). PEDOT is the conducting polymer of choice for electronic displays and devices due to its high conductivity, stability and transparency as a thin film. However, it is only available as an aqueous dispersion, and no one else has been able to render PEDOT dispersible in organic solvents. It is important to make PEDOT dispersible in organics because water is incompatible with many semiconductor processing steps. This SBIR project will develop printable conducting polymers that are initially organic dispersible, can be cast a thin films, and conducting patterns can be made permanently fixed by selectively exposing the film to ultraviolet light. The material that is not exposed to the light can be easily removed. This project will develop printable PEDOT-based conducting polymers that contain no water, and that can be used in the production of electronics such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays.This project hopes to increase knowledge of organic dispersible conducting polymers. Sample size quantities of organic dispersible conducting polymers developed in this project will be made available to researchers by sale through a major chemical distributor. This will promote a more rapid dissemination of the base technology and quicken the pace of additional discoveries and applications using our materials. The benefits of this research to society include a reduced environmental impact due to electronics manufacturing. The printing technology presented in this proposal results in fewer chemical waste streams than inorganic electronics production. Inorganic electronics fabrication facilities produce large amounts of toxic waste including arsenic and heavy metals. The lack of ground water pollution from toxins in the decomposition process is a plus for municipalities who struggle with this issue today. Furthermore, this printing technology will result in a reduction in the cost and a greater variety of electronic devices available to consumers. This technology should have a positive impact in areas where weight sensitivity represents a gating factor.