Selective Vapor-Phase Deposition of Conductive Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) Thin Films on Patterned FeCl3 Formed by Microcontact Printing

We demonstrate a selective vapor-phase deposition of conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin films on patterned $FeCl_3$. The PEDOT thin films were grown on various substrates by using the vapor-phase polymerization of ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) with $FeCl_3$ catalytic layers at 325 K. The selective deposition of the PEDOT thin films using vapor-phase polymerization was accomplished with patterned $FeCl_3$ layers as templates. Microcontact printing was done to prepare patterned $FeCl_3$ on polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) substrates. The selective vapor-phase deposition is based on the fact that the PEDOT thin films are selectively deposited only on the regions exposing $FeCl_3$ of the PET substrates, because the EDOT monomer can be polymerized only in the presence of oxidants, such as $FeCl_3$, Fe($CIO_4$), and iron(II) salts of organic acids/inorganic acids containing organic radicals.