Triflate Salts as Alternative Non-Chlorinated Oxidants for the Oxidative Chemical Vapor Deposition and Electronic Engineering of Conjugated Polymers.

Oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD) stands as an attractive approach for the synthesis, engineering, and integration of conjugated polymers for advanced electronic and optoelectronic applications. In oCVD, the oxidant significantly influences the conformational and optoelectronic properties of the resulting conjugated polymer thin films. In this work, triflate salts of iron(III) and copper(II) (Fe(OTf) and Cu(OTf), respectively) are investigated for the first time as suitable alternative oxidants to the widely used iron(III) chloride (FeCl) for the oCVD of conjugated polymers.