Doping-Induced Ion-Exchange in the Highly Conjugated Self-Doped Polythiophene from Anodic Coupling of 4-(4H-Cyclopentadithien-4-yl)butanesulfonate

Anodic coupling of tetrabutylammonium 4-(4 H -cyclopentadithien-4-yl)butanesulfonate in acetonitrile + 0.1 M Bu 4 NClO 4 produces self-doped polythiophene films with high conjugation length (λ max = 540 nm; E ° = −0.3 V vs Ag/Ag + ), conductivity (0.6 S cm - 1 ) and solubility in water (ca. 10 g L - 1 ). Electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance measurements of the ion flux during polymer oxidative doping in acetonitrile + 0.1 M MClO 4 (M = Li, Me 4 N, Et 4 N, Pr 4 N, and Bu 4 N) have shown that cation ejection is accompanied by anion injection in 1:1 ratio.