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Hydrogen is identified as the most promising zero-carbon fuel of the future. Naturally, in this regard, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), being a first critical step of the hydrogen technology and economy, attracts much attention. Conventionally, noble metals have been used as the electrocatalyst for HER, which in part holds back the hydrogen technology to become a large scale and heavily distributed energy technology. This has encouraged scientists to study cost-effective strategies for HER. Transition metal disulfides, being a low-cost material system with a great degree of engineering versatility, have recently emerged as a potential candidate that can significantly promote hydrogen evolution. Several studies have demonstrated that the control and manipulation of the structure and morphology of these materials can improve their proton reduction performance. This review covers many of the decisive factors and strategies to advance transition metal sulfides for HER applications.

Bioelectronics devices that convert biochemical signals to electronic readout enable biosensing with high spatiotemporal resolution. These technologies have been primarily applied in biomedicine while in plants sensing is mainly based on invasive methods that require tissue sampling, hindering in vivo detection and having poor spatiotemporal resolution. Here we developed enzymatic biosensors based on organic electrochemical transistors, OECTs, for in vivo and real time monitoring of sugar fluctuations in the vascular tissue of trees. The glucose and sucrose OECT-biosensors were implanted into the vascular tissue of trees with minimal disruption of the trees physiological processes and operated through a low-cost portable unit for 48 hours. Our work consists a proof of concept study where implantable OECT-biosensors not only allow real time monitoring of metabolites in plants but also reveal new insights in sugar transport and metabolism. We anticipate that this work will be a starting point for establishing bioelectronic technologies as powerful non-invasive tools for basic plant research and for agriculture and forestry.

Internet-of-things which requires electronics, energy convertor and storage must be low-cost, recyclable and environmentally friendly. In the development of printed batteries, ideally all the components (electrode and electrolyte) must be printable to ensure low-cost manufacturing via printing technologies. Most of the printed batteries suffer with low power. One of the reasons is the poor ionic conductivity of the electrolyte due to the high viscosity needed for printing relatively thick layers. In the present work we have demonstrated a new class of electrolyte promising for printed organic batteries following the concept of water-in-polymer salt electrolytes (WIPSEs). These highly concentrated electrolytes of potassium polyacrylate are non-flammable, low cost and environmentally friendly. They possess high ionic conductivities (45-87 mS/cm) independent on the macroscopic viscosities varying from 7 to 33000 cP. The decoupling between ionic transport and macroscopic viscosity enables us to demonstrate organic batteries based on WIPSEs that can deliver a high and constant power (similar to 4.5 kW/kg; 7.1-11 mW/cm(2)) independent on the viscosity of the electrolytes. The tunability of the viscosity presents a prerequisite for printed technology manufacturing and compatibility with printed batteries. Funding Agencies|Proof-of-Concept project "Paper Batteries"; "Wallenberg Wood Science Center" - Knut and Alice Wallenberg (KAW) foundation; Swedish Research Council [201605990]; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [2009-00971]; Wallenberg Scholar grants from KAW

The controlled drug delivery devices helps timely drug administrations and maintenance of effective dose to maximize curing effects with minimal side effects. Application of this technology to various body parts has been limited, especially in organs with curved surface, such as the brain and the eye. Herein, we report a flexible drug delivery microdevice (f-DDM) for controlled administration on the curved organ surface. The unique structure of the f-DDM consists of freestanding gold membranes over the multireservoir array was implemented by reversing the typical fabrication order of the reservoir and sealing membrane. We optimized the design of the f-DDM by a finite element analysis to prevent thermal damage during the laser transfer and the applying current density for reliable drug release through an electrochemical analysis. The wireless power transfer system was applied to f-DDM, which shows stable wirelessly powered operation. The f-DDM was flexible enough to be implantable on the curved cerebral cortex and successfully adopted for delivery of two different chemicals or prevention of seizure activity using an anti-epileptic drug. Our study opens a new avenue for the controlled, region-specific, and combinatorial application of drugs, the key factors for precision medicine.

Adherent cells cultured in vitro must usually, at some point, be detached from the culture substrate. Presently, the most common method of achieving detachment is through enzymatic treatment which breaks the adhesion points of the cells to the surface. This comes with the drawback of deteriorating the function and viability of the cells. Other methods that have previously been proposed include detachment of the cell substrate itself, which risks contaminating the cell sample, and changing the surface energy of the substrate through thermal changes, which yields low spatial resolution and risks damaging the cells if they are sensitive to temperature changes. Here cell culture substrates, based on thin films of the ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) co-polymer, are developed for electroactive control of cell adhesion and enzyme-free detachment of cells. Fibroblasts cultured on the substrates are detached through changing the direction of polarization of the ferroelectric substrate. The method does not affect subsequent adhesion and viability of reseeded cells. Funding agencies: Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA) [2010-00507]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Onnesjo Foundation

Organic phototransistor memory is considered as a promising optoelectronic device owing to its multifunctionality. However, due to the poor reliability of each function and the complexity of the device structure, it is necessary to optimize the thin-film process of functional materials when constructing multiple functions into a single device. Here, we demonstrate a dual-functional device that is both a working memory transistor and a phototransistor by incorporating photochromic spironaphthooxazine molecules into an organic insulating layer. The photochromic molecules in the polymer matrix not only exhibit nonvolatile charge storage properties similar to nano-floating gates but also feature a reversible electronic band structure upon alternating irradiation with ultraviolet and visible light, which makes the device function as both an electrical memory transistor and a phototransistor. Furthermore, the photoresponsive charge trap layer in the demonstrated device leads to excellent memory performance under both dark and light conditions, which includes a large memory window (~56 V), stable endurance cycles (>102), and good retention characteristics (>104 s). Our findings suggest an alternative strategy to realize organic multifunctional nonvolatile memories.

Fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) is an electrochemical method commonly used in neuroscience for spatiotemporal measurement of the concentration of dopamine and other electroactive species. Since FSCV involves wide bandwidth measurements of low currents, the technique is normally very sensitive to electrical noise and is typically performed inside a Faraday cage. In order to reduce the electrical noise and to enable measurements in an unshielded environment, we take use of an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) to amplify the FSCV signals. OECTs based on the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) were microfabricated and characterized. A patterned 10 μm gold microelectrode was used as the sensing electrode and the FSCV signal was amplified by the OECT. With this approach, successful measurements of dopamine concentrations in the 10 μM range were performed in a completely unshielded measurement setup. Our results demonstrate how OECTs can successfully be used in an on-site amplification application to characterize biochemical signals, thus open up new trails for flexible multifunctional organic bioelectronics systems.

Symmetric and fast (∼5 ms) on-to-off and off-to-on drain current switching characteristics have been obtained in screen printed organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) including PEDOT:PSS (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(styrene sulfonic acid)) as the active transistor channel material. Improvement of the drain current switching characteristics is made possible by including a carbon conductor layer on top of PEDOT:PSS at the drain electrode that is in direct contact with both the channel and the electrolyte of the OECT. This carbon conductor layer suppresses the effects from a reduction front that is generated in these PEDOT:PSS-based OECTs. In the off-state of these devices this reduction front slowly migrate laterally into the PEDOT:PSS drain electrode, which make off-to-on switching slow. The OECT including carbon electrodes was manufactured using only standard printing process steps and may pave the way for fully integrated organic electronic systems that operate at low voltages for applications such as logic circuits, sensors and active matrix addressed displays. Funding Agencies|Lintec Corporation

Mass-produced organic electronics for internet-of-things, point of care diagnostics, smart labels and more suggest development of a “green” and recyclable electronics. One of the greatest challenge ...

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) chemically doped with poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) is a material system commonly used as a conductive and transparent coating in several important electronic applications. The material is also electrochemically active and exhibits electrochromic (EC) properties making it suitable as the active element in EC display applications. In this work uniformly coated PEDOT:PSS layers were used both as the pixel electrode and as the counter electrode in EC display components. The pixel and counter electrodes were separated by a whitish opaque and water-based polyelectrolyte and the thicknesses of the two EC layers were varied independently in order to optimize the color contrast of the display element. A color contrast (ΔE∗, CIE L∗a∗b∗ color space) exceeding 40 was obtained with maintained relatively short switching time at an operational voltage less than 2 V. funding agencies|VINNOVA (research and innovation for sustainable growth in Sweden)

International audience; A DNA sensor based on a water-gated organic field-effect transistor is described. The semiconductor is poly [3-(5-carboxypentyl)thiophene-2,5-diyl] onto which DNA probes are covalently grafted via NHS/EDC chemistry. Clear changes in the output characteristic of the device are observed upon DNA immobilization and after DNA hybridization. Experimental data point out the importance of the electrolyte Debye length that can screen negative DNA charges and impede transduction. For this reason, deionized water was used in order to increase the Debye length up to several hundreds of nanometers. In this case, a decrease in the off current was observed upon hybridization, whereas no significant change occurred when using saline solutions.

Nanomedicine is a research area with potential to shape, direct, and change future medical treatments in a revolutionary manner over the next decades. While the common goal with other fields of biomedicine is to solve medical problems, this area embraces an increasing number of technology platforms as they become miniaturized. Organic electronics has over the past two decades developed into an exciting and thriving area of research.Today, the organic electronics field stands at the interface with biology. As the area of organic bioelectronics advances, it holds promise to make major contributions to nanomedicine. The progress made in this direction is the topic of this review.We describe the inherent features of conducting polymers, and explain the usefulness of these materials as active scaffolds in cell biology and tissue engineering. We also explain how the combined ionic and electronic conductive nature of the polymers is used to precisely control the delivery of signal substances. This unique feature is key in novel devices for chemical communication with cells and tissues.This review highlights the results from the creative melting pot of interdisciplinary research in organic bioelectronics. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Nanotechnologies - Emerging Applications in Biomedicine.

An electrochemical circuit to record time-temperature history has been realized by using the propagation of over-oxidation fronts in stripes of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiopehene) blended with poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The over-oxidation front propagation has been characterized and related to the phase change of polyethylene glycol (PEG) electrolytes. The electrolytes were chosen to have a phase transition in the temperature interval to be monitored, resulting in large conductivity variations and thereby an easily interpreted output. A demonstrator has been fabricated and shown to detect a temperature increase and a following temperature decrease. This very simple device is cheap to produce and could be used to monitor the temperature of packages.

Hybrid inorganic-organic semiconductor heterojunctions are nowadays scrutinized for optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells and light emitting diodes. Here, ZnO nanowires/polyfluorene heterojun ...

Electronically conductive and electrochemically active 3D-scaffolds based on electrospun poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) nano-fibers are reported. Vapour phase polymerization was employed to achieve an uniform and conformal coating of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with tosylate (PEDOT:tosylate) on the nano-fibers. The PEDOT coatings had a large impact on the wettability, turning the hydrophobic PET fibers super-hydrophilic. SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were grown on the PEDOT coated fibers. The SH-SY5Y cells adhered well and showed healthy morphology. These electrically active scaffolds were used to induce Ca2+ signalling in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. PEDOT:tosylate coated nano-fibers represent a class of 3D host environments that combines excellent adhesion and proliferation for neuronal cells with the possibility to regulate their signalling. Original Publication:Maria Bolin, Karl Svennersten, Xiangjun Wang, Ioannis S Chronakis, Agneta Richter-Dahlfors, Edwin Jager and Magnus Berggren, Nano-fiber scaffold electrodes based on PEDOT for cell stimulation, 2009, SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL, (142), 2, 451-456.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2009.04.062Copyright: Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam.http://www.elsevier.com/

Monolithic integration of an electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistor (OFET) and an organic electrochromic pixel is reported. Thanks to its versatility, the polyanionic proton conductor po ...

Organic semiconductor blends are commonly used in organic based (opto-)electronic devices. They are composed of two types of (macro-) molecules, referredto as the guest and host. To achieve optimum ...

An organic electronic ion pump, including poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) as the active material has been used to electronically control the transport of protons between two electrolytes and to ch ...

Impedance switching has been observed in many organic devices, but the mechanism is still a matter of debate. Reliable switch devices consisting of an organic layer of Rose Bengal derivatives sandwiched in between indium tin oxide and aluminum electrodes were fabricated. Modifying the chemical nature of the organic layers and visualizing the temperature distribution in the organic memory rule out several mechanisms. It is shown that the memory effect originates from filamentary switching.

Chemical degradation of conjugated polymers is one cause of material failures in polymer-based (opto)electronic devices, but can also be used as a technique for subtractive patterning of polymer films. When a large anodic potential is applied to the conducting polymer blend poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(4styrenesulfonate), PEDOT:PSS, an over-oxidation reaction occurs, altering its electrical conductivity. Here, we have studied the effect of pH on the electrochemical over-oxidation process of PEDOT in PEDOT:PSS. High pH is associated with a decrease of over-oxidation potential and an increase of resistivity in the resulting film. Vibrational spectroscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy measurements on over-oxidized PEDOT:PSS films indicate that the decrease in conductivity results from cleavage of the conjugation pathway accompanied by the formation of sulfone, carbonyl and carboxylic groups in the polymer chain.

All-plastic light emitting diodes require the design and fabrication of low work function plastic electrodes. Here, we show that the work function of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrenesulfonic acid (PEDOT-PSS) can be decreased from 4.8 eV to 3.9 eV by surface reaction with the strong electron-donor tetrakis(dimethylamino)ethylene (TDAE). The surface modification was characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy and optical spectroscopy. The low work function plastic electrode was used in a first prototype for all-plastic light emitting diodes.

In a step towards roll-to-roll production of polymer-based electrochromic displays on flexible substrates, nine thiophene-based polymers and copolymers designed to increase the contrast of displays based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrene-sulfonic acid) have been synthesized and evaluated with respect to their absorbance (contrast), switch speed, and ability to switch reversibly in a water-based electrolyte. The results of the evaluation, including cyclic voltammetry and optically visible absorption, provide a basis for understanding what an aqueous electrolyte electrochromic display requires in terms of oxidation potential and material stability, and the effect of chemical structure on the reversibility and speed of switching.

Wettability gradients can be electronically controlled in a multiple-electrode electrochemical structure that consists of a solid electrolyte and the conducting polymer polyaniline doped with dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid as the active surface. A bias applied directly between a counter electrode and the surface to be switched determines the initial water contact angle, while the potential between two electrodes on either side of the switch surface, connected to each other and the switch surface only through an electrolyte, induces a surface energy gradient. The spreading of water on the switchable surface can be modulated with both potentials. The wettability at each point of the switch surface is correlated to the local electrochromic state (visible color) of the material, offering a visual indication of how a water drop will spread before it is applied. This new device has potential applications in scientific areas such as micro-fluidics and biomaterials.

The effect of n-alkyl side-chain length on water contact angle with films in neutral and electrochemically doped states are studied. Increasing the side-chain from butyl to hexyl to octyl increases the contact angle of water on conjugated polymer films in both electrochemical states, but decreases the difference in angle between the states in the same film. Devices based on these films have potential application in, for example, guiding water and other liquids through microfluidic channels in lab-on-a-chip and micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) applications.

Here we report polymer diodes based on a conjugated polymer host and a dispersed molecular switch. In this case, the molecular switch is a photochromic (PC) molecule that can be reversibly switched between low and high energy gap states, triggered by exposure to ultra-violet and visible light, respectively. While dispersed inside the conjugated polymer bulk and switched to its low energy gap state, the PC molecules act as traps for holes. Solid-state blends of this PC material and conjugated polymers have been demonstrated in diodes. The state of the PC molecule controls the current density versus voltage ( JV ) characteristics of the resulting diode. Both poly(2-methoxy-5(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV) and poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) host materials have been studied. The two conjugated polymers resulted in differing JV switching characteristics. A more pronounced JV switch is observed with MEH-PPV than with P3HT. We postulate that the PC material, while switched to its low energy gap state, act as traps in both the conjugated polymers but at different trap depth energies.

We report on transistors and light-emitting diodes using a conjugated polymer consisting of alternated segments of fluorene units and low-band gap donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) units. The D–A–D segment includes two electron-donating thiophene rings combined with a thiadiazolo-quinoxaline unit, which is electron withdrawing to its nature. The resulting polymer is conjugated and has a band gap of around 1.27 eV. Here we present the corresponding electro- and photoluminescence spectra, which both peak at approximately 1 μm. Single layer light-emitting diodes demonstrated external quantum efficiencies from 0.03% to 0.05%. The polymer was employed as active material in thin film transistors, a field-effect mobility of 3 × 10−3 cm2/V s and current on/off ratio of 104 were achieved at ambient atmosphere.

A novel transducer concept based on an organic electrochemical transistor is described. Its function as an integral part of an air humidity sensor, in which the proton conductor Nafion acts as sensitivity layer has been realised. The resulting electrochemical sensor–transistor, based on the conducting polymer PEDOT:PSS, operates at low voltages, on the order of 1 V. The sensor response, measured as the drain–source current of the electrochemical transistor, versus air humidity, has a close to exponential behaviour. The sensor can be realised using exclusively printing and coating fabrication techniques. Here, we demonstrate devices realised on plastic foils and on ordinary coated fine paper substrates. This organic electrochemical transducer promise future applications such as all-integrated low-cost sensor tags for single-use chemical sensors.

We report photopumped lasing in a microcavity device with a polythiophene layer as emitter. The microcavity is made of a polymer film between two dielectric Bragg reflecting mirrors (DBR). The:micr ...

The light amplification characteristics of organic guest-host systems with Forster transfer from absorbing small molecule hosts to dye/ polymer dopants are described. Such material systems are shown to be very promising for use in low-threshold organic lasers. A number of laser resonators have been experimentally realized with Forster gain media including microdisk, ring, spheroid, and distributed Bragg reflector lasers.

Polymer blends are often used in polymer light emitting diodes as a tool to increase the efficiency of the devices. In this report, we show the necessity to take the phase separation properties of such blends into account, as the miscibility of the involved polymers drastically affects the resulting film structure. By using phase separated polymer blends involving conjugated poly(thiophenes) and different non-conjugated polymers as matrices, different types of applications, such as light emitting diodes with improved voltage control of emitted colour, sub-micron size LEDs and anisotropic conductors are demonstrated.

The electronic structure of poly [3-(4-octylphenyl)thiophene] (POPT) has been studied by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), as well as by quantum chemical calculations. Both temperature-dependent effects on the electronic structure of the neutral system, as well as the generation of new electronic states induced by doping with alkaline metals, have been observed. The experimental results are in good agreement with the results of the quantum chemical calculations.

Micron- and submicron-sized light-emitting diodes (LEDs) made using conjugated polymers as electroluminescent layers and contact materials are presented. Two different routes to make arrays of such small light sources have been developed. The benefits and drawbacks of the use of the conjugated polymer poly(2,3-ethylene-dioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as hole injector in polymer LEDs are also discussed.

The use of resonant optical microcavities to influence the emission properties of conjugated polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is reported. The microcavities, which are built using metallic mirrors and polymeric spacers, incorporate polymer LEDs in between the mirrors. We report experimental results of polymer LEDs based on substituted polythiophenes. The effects include substantial narrowing of the spectral width of the emitted light, enhancement of the emission at the microcavity resonance, and coupling of two emission processes to different resonance modes in the same cavity.

Within the single family of substituted poly(thiophenes) it is possible to realize such diverse device designs as voltage controlled colours from polymer LEDs, sub-micron size LEDs, and white light emitters. Many of these features become possible by the use of polymer blends in which one or more poly(thiophenes) are mixed with a matrix polymer (PMMA). The phase structure in these blends can be controlled by stoichiometry and mode of formation. That phase structure can be used to prevent exciton transfer, and to define new colours in polymer LEDs. It also allows us to make anisotropic conductors suitable for contacting optical devices.

We have demonstrated two general ways to increase the photoluminescence efficiency of films from conjugated polymers. One is to disperse the conjugated polymer on a molecular level by using attractive forces between the conjugated polymer and the matrix. The other method is to substitute the conjugated polymer with side chains which separates the conjugated backbones. Using this idea a new poly(thiophene) with a photoluminescence efficiency of 16% in films has been prepared. LEDs from this polymer exhibit an external efficiency of 0.1% for single layer and 0.7% for double layer diodes.