Electrolyte-Gated Organic Field-Effect Transistors for Quantitative Monitoring of the Molecular Dynamics of Crystallization at the Solid–Liquid Interface

Abstract

Quantitative measurements of molecular dynamics at the solid–liquid interface are of crucial importance in a wide range of fields, such as heterogeneous catalysis, energy storage, nanofluidics, biosensing, and crystallization. In particular, the molecular dynamics associated with nucleation and crystal growth is very challenging to study because of the poor sensitivity or limited spatial/temporal resolution of the most widely used analytical techniques. We demonstrate that electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistors (EGOFETs) are able to monitor in real-time the crystallization process in an evaporating droplet. The high sensitivity of these devices at the solid–liquid interface, through the electrical double layer and signal amplification, enables the quantification of changes in solute concentration over time and the transport rate of molecules at the solid–liquid interface during crystallization. Our results show that EGOFETs offer a highly sensitive and powerful, yet simple approach to investigate the molecular dynamics of compounds crystallizing from water.