Electrical and optical properties of air-stable, iodine-doped natural cotton fibers

Abstract

The influence of sodium-hydroxide treatment and iodine doping on the optical and the electrical properties of cotton fibers is investigated by using photoluminescence (PL), as well as photoconductivity, measurements. The iodine doping results in a quenching of the PL and an enhancement of the photoconductivity due to the photo-induced charge transfer between the dopants and the cotton fibers. The conductivity of the iodine-doped cellulose fibers shows a significant enhancement by more than five orders of magnitude as compared to that of the undoped samples. A good correlation is found between the changes in the fiber's morphology and the electrical and optical properties of the fiber, which opens interesting perspectives for molecular donor-acceptor device applications.