Polyaniline micropattern onto flexible substrate by vapor deposition polymerization-mediated inkjet printing

Abstract An approach to pattern a conducting polymer on various flexible substrates using vapor deposition polymerization-mediated inkjet printing method was demonstrated. Complex patterns of doped emeraldine salt polyaniline were obtained via chemical oxidation polymerization of vaporized aniline monomer on inkjet-printed oxidant patterns. The features of pattern were precisely controlled by inkjet printing with a micrometer-scale resolution. Fourier transformed infrared attenuated total reflection analysis was conducted in order to confirm the polymerization of aniline monomer and UV–visible spectroscopy analysis was used to investigate the oxidation state of obtained polyaniline. The minimum width of patterned line was ca. 80 μm. The sheet resistance of patterned polyaniline films was 3.8 × 103 Ω/□ for an average patterned film thickness of ca. 450 nm.