Researchers at Linkoping University in Sweden have demonstrated that the organic PEDOT polymer functions in a completely different manner than previously believed, a result that has huge significance in many fields of application.
One of the major differences concerns the optical absorption of the material, which is crucial for its use in solar cells, soft displays, and other applications.
The optical spectrum depends on the electronic structure of the material, including such properties as the energy levels at which electrons and located inside the atom, the spins they possess, and the way in which they can move in the material.
PEDOT is also a material that can be doped to give it remarkable conductivity.
The colour changes as the degree of doping increases, showing that pervious methods have not been sufficiently exact.
Iogr Zozoulenko, Professor and Head of the Theory and Modelling Group at the Laboratory of Organic Electronic at Linkoping University, said: “Our paper presents a completely different interpretation of the optical spectra from PEDOT, and a completely different interpretation of the electron parametric resonance spectrum, EPR. Our results can also be applied to many other conducting polymer materials.”