Patent attributes
Latent doping is provided wherein a conducting polymer is mixed with a dopant in solution without the doping reaction occurring unless solvent is removed. Regioregular polythiophenes are a particularly important embodiment. A composition comprising (i) at least one polymer comprising conjugation in the polymer backbone, (ii) at least one dopant for the polymer, (iii) at least one solvent for the polymer and latent dopant, wherein the polymer, the latent dopant, and the solvent are formulated so that the latent dopant does not substantially dope the polymer when formulated, but does substantially react with the polymer when the solvent is removed. Formulation of the composition can comprise adjusting the order of mixing, the amounts of the components, and the temperature. Methods of formulating the compositions and methods of using the compositions are also provided. OLED, PLED, photovoltaic, and other organic electronic devices can be fabricated.
