Microemulsion with aromatic oil as cleaner media for electropolymerisation

Microemulsion polymerization is widely used as a cleaner alternative way to prepare intrinsically conductive polymers. We studied isothermal phase diagrams for microemulsions of the electropolymerizable heterocyclic aromatic oil 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT), aqueous LiClO₄ solution and alkyl polyethoxylate. Our specific goal was to assess the effect of LiClO₄ salt on the phase behaviour. The phase behaviour was characterized by stepwise titration and microscopic analyses. Here we found that the increase of the concentration of LiClO₄ salt shifts the microemulsion region to lower surfactant content.