Monitoring conductivity and optical homogeneity during the growth of polyaniline thin films

Abstract

In order to optimize the technology with respect to maximum conductivity, transmittance and optical homogeneity, the time-controlled chemical bath deposition process was used to prepare polyaniline (PANI) thin films on glass substrate. Two different precursors have been used for PANI thin films preparation: anilinium sulfate and aniline hydrochloride. Optical homogeneity has been evaluated by transmittance maps obtained using spectrometer equipped with light collecting multi-mode optical fibers. Results showed the strong dependence of conductivity and optical homogeneity on the deposition time during early stages of films growth. The increase of conductivity during deposition time is accompanied with the increase of optical inhomogeneity. Optimum deposition time has been estimated about 30 min with maximum optical homogeneity, keeping still the reasonable transmittance and conductivity values.