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Conductive polymers are a very promising alternative for the fabrication of transparent conductive materials. They have many advantages compared to existing materials, like a low-cost and a high flexibility. However, electrical conductivity still needs to be improved. We report a straightforward solution-based approach for the fabrication of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin films with conductivity as high as 6046 ± 510 S cm−1, based on accurate water content control during the polymerization step. The crystallinity improvement is evidenced by GIWAXS characterization, and low temperature electrical conductivity measurements give new insights on the transport mechanisms at stake. This very high conductivity is, to our knowledge, the highest reported value for solution-based synthesis of PEDOT based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent heaters (TH) have attracted intense attention from both scientific and industrial sectors due to the key role they play in many technologies, including smart windows, deicers, defoggers, displays, actuators, and sensors. While transparent conductive oxides have dominated the field for the past five decades, a new generation of THs based on nanomaterials has led to new paradigms in terms of applications and prospects in the past years. Here, the most recent developments and strategies to improve the properties, stability, and integration of these new THs are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

he sun protection factor (SPF) is the most important quantity to characterize the performance of sunscreens. As the standard method for its determination is based on clinical trials involving irradiation of human volunteers, calculations of sunscreen performance have become quite popular to reduce the number of in vivo studies. Such simulations imply the calculation of UV transmittance of the sunscreen film using the amounts and spectroscopic properties of the UV absorbers employed, and presuppose the validity of the Beer-Lambert law. As sunscreen films on human skin can contain considerable concentrations of UV absorbers, it is questioned whether the Beer-Lambert law is still valid for these systems. The results of this work show that the validity of the Beer-Lambert law is still given at the high concentrations at which UV absorbers occur in sunscreen films on human skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]