A Semiconducting Two-Dimensional Polymer as an Organic Electrochemical Transistor Active Layer.

Abstract

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are devices with broad potential in bioelectronic sensing, circuits, and neuromorphic hardware. Their unique properties arise from the use of organic mixed ionic/electronic conductors (OMIECs) as the active channel. Typical OMIECs are linear polymers, where defined and controlled microstructure/morphology, and reliable characterization of transport and charging can be elusive. Semiconducting two-dimensional polymers (2DPs) present a new avenue in OMIEC materials development, enabling electronic transport along with precise control of well-defined channels ideal for ion transport/intercalation. To this end, a recently reported 2DP, TIIP, is synthesized and patterned at 10µm resolution as the channel of a transistor. The TIIP films demonstrate textured microstructure and show semiconducting properties with accessible oxidation states. Operating in an aqueous electrolyte, the 2DP-OECT exhibits a device-scale hole mobility of 0.05 cm2 V-1 s-1 and a µC* figure of merit of 1.75 F cm-1 V-1 s-1 . 2DP OMIECs thus offer new synthetic degrees of freedom to control OECT performance and may enable additional opportunities such as ion selectivity or improved stability through reduced morphological modulation during device operation.