Influence of NiCr/Au electrodes and multilayer thickness on the electrical properties of PANI/PVS ultrathin film grown by Lbl deposition.

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Date
2012
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Abstract
In the present work, we concentrate on the study of effects of metallic electrodes, multilayer thickness and temperature in ac and dc electrical conductivity of polyaniline/poly(vinyl sulfonic acid) (PANI/PVS) ultrathin films. The polymer system was obtained from layer-by-layer (Lbl) self-assembly technique on a glass substrate with an electrode array of adhesion layer of NiCr (20 nm) covered with Au (180 nm). We observed a significant and abrupt increase in the value of dc conductivity and a change of ac conductivity behavior of NiCr/Au–PANI/PVS–NiCr/Au structure when the thickness of PANI/PVS system reaches the Au layer. These effects were ascribed to the ideal contact of Au–PANI/PVS and the relative high interfacial contact resistance between PANI/PVS and NiCr,thus reducing the parallel resistance of NiCr/Au–PANI/PVS interfacial layer in an ideal parallel plate capacitor structure. Atomic Force Microscopy images confirm this assumption. Furthermore, the ac conductivity of Au–PANI/PVS–Au structure was typical of solid disordered materials. A model based on carrier hopping in a medium with randomly varying energy barriers was presented for the ac conductivity of the polymer system, which also encompasses the high dielectric constant of PANI/PVS blended films, the neutral contact Au–PANI/PVS, and the electrical resistance of NiCr–PANI/PVS interfacial layer. The model allowed separating the interface and the bulk effects in the electrical response of NiCr/Au–PANI/PVS–NiCr/Au structure and in addition the highest activation energy (35 MeV) correlated with an optimization of hopping distance (30 nm) for carriers jumps in PANI/PVS system.
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Complex impedance, Semiconducting polymers, Interface, Surface, Device
Citation
SANTOS, M. de C.; MUNFORD, M. L.; BIANCHI, R. F. Influence of NiCr/Au electrodes and multilayer thickness on the electrical properties of PANI/PVS ultrathin film grown by Lbl deposition. Materials Science & Engineering. B, Solid-State Materials for Advanced Technology, v. 177, p. 366-6, 2012. Disponível em: <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921510711005769>. Acesso em: 23 fev. 2015.