Self-organized and electrically conducting PEDOT polymer matrix for applications in sensors and energy generation and storage

An electrochemical polymerization method, comprising:

• forming a polymer nanocomposite film by suspending silicon solid-state nanoparticles in a brominated halogenated 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) or EDOT derivatives monomer organic mixture which is homogeneously dispersed around the surface of the nanoparticles forming an electrically conducting polymer matrix, wherein the 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene comprises 2,5-dibromo-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (DBEDOT) resulting in a conjugated poly(3,4-ethlenedioxythiophene) PEDOT;
• forming polymer PEDOT chains in the self-polymerization process around the nanoparticles;
• heating the brominated halogenated 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene in the presence the silicon solid-state nanoparticles to a temperature between 70-80 degrees Celsius for a period of time ranging from 12-48 hours;
• and
• linking each particle in a continuous conducting and binding polymer network to an adjacent particle resulting in high percolation;
• wherein the PEDOT polymer is doped with an LiPF6 electrolyte and comprises a weight ratio of 50 wt. %-50 wt. % for the brominated halogenated 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and the silicon solid-state nanoparticles.

An electrochemical polymerization method, comprising:

• preparing a monomer solution by dissolving 0.1 grams of halogenated 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene in acetonitrile, stirring the monomer solution for about two hours and sonicating the initial monomer solution for about 15 minutes;
• adding 0.1 grams of SiNPs to the monomer solution, stirring the monomer solution for about two hours and sonicating the initial monomer solution for about 15 minutes for preparing an SiNPs-DBEDOT slurry;
• depositing the SiNPs-DBEDOT slurry onto an anode substrate, drying the an SiNPs-DBEDOT slurry on the anode substrate overnight, and heating the an SiNPs-DBEDOT slurry at 80 degrees Celsius for 48 hours in vacuum;
• wherein the electrochemical polymerization method is an “in-situ” one-step polymerization consisting of no catalysts or initiators.