Remarkably, disclosed herein is a solvent-less chemical vapor deposition
(CVD) method for the oxidative polymerization and deposition of thin
films of electrically-conducting polymers. In a preferred embodiment, the
method provides poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) thin films. In
other embodiments, the method is applicable to polymerization to give
other conducting polymers, such as polyanilines, polypyrroles,
polythiophenes and their derivatives. The all-vapor technique uses a
moderate substrate temperature, making it compatible with a range of
materials, including as fabric and paper. In addition, this method allows
for the coating of high surface-area substrates with fibrous, porous
and/or particulate morphologies. The coated substrates may be used in
organic semiconductor devices, including organic light-emitting diodes
(OLEDs), photovoltaics, electrochromics, and supercapacitors.