Investigation of the Conditions for the Synthesis of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) ATRP Macroinitiator.

One of the most widely used conductive polymers in the growing conductive polymer industry is poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), whose main advantages are good thermal and chemical stability, a conjugated backbone, and ease of functionalization. The main drawback of PEDOT for use as wearable electronics is the lack of stretchable and self-healing properties. This can be overcome by grafting PEDOT with flexible side branches.

Intrinsically Stretchable Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) Conducting Polymer Film for Flexible Electronics.

The aim of this study was to synthesize an intrinsically stretchable conductive polymer (CP) by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). For this purpose, poly(3,4-ethyilenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was synthesized as a backbone, while poly(acrylate-urethane) (PAU) was grafted onto the PEDOT backbone to form graft polymers PEDOT--PAU. Different concentrations of acrylate-urethane (AU) were used to synthesize PAU side chains of different lengths.