INFLUENCE OF THE DOPING CONDITIONS ON THE SURFACE ENERGIES OF CONDUCTING POLYMERS

The surface energies and polarities of the conducting polymers, polyaniline, polypyrrole and poly(3-hexylthiophene), dedoped and doped, were investigated by the harmonic-mean equation based on contact angle measurements. The values of the surface energies and polarities of dedoped conducting polymers are similar to those of conventional polymers. However, the surface energies of the doped conducting polymers vary greatly depending on the choice of the dopants and doping level. The results reveal that the change in surface energy of conducting polymers may result from the contribution of the polar components, depending on the types and concentration of the dopants, since the dispersion components of the measured surface energies of the examined conducting polymers do not change significantly from doping to dedoping.