High Performance Organic Mixed Ionic-Electronic Polymeric Conductor with Stability to Autoclave Sterilization

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Electronics
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are crucial for bioelectronic applications.
• Developing high-performance and stable materials for OECTs remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize novel donor-acceptor (D-A) polymers for OECTs.
• To investigate the impact of polymer structure on OECT performance.
• To evaluate the stability and potential applications of the developed polymers.

Main Methods:

• Straightforward synthesis of D-A polymers.
• Fabrication and characterization of OECT devices.
• Performance testing under various conditions, including steam sterilization.

Main Results:

• All synthesized polymers displayed accumulation mode behavior.
• Tuning the donor comonomer significantly enhanced transconductance by three orders of magnitude.
• The polymer gFBT-g2T achieved a normalized peak transconductance of 298±10.4 S/cm and high charge-carrier mobility (5.76 cm²/V·s).
• gFBT-g2T demonstrated exceptional stability, retaining performance after steam sterilization, which also induced beneficial film porosity.

Conclusions:

• The developed D-A polymers, particularly gFBT-g2T, show great promise for p-type accumulation mode OECTs.
• gFBT-g2T's high performance and stability make it a strong candidate for implantable bioelectronics.
• This work opens new avenues for advanced medical devices and biosensors.