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Quill TJ, LeCroy G, Marks A, Hesse SA, Thiburce Q, McCulloch I, Tassone CJ, Takacs CJ, Giovannitti A, Salleo A. Charge Carrier Induced Structural Ordering And Disordering in Organic Mixed Ionic Electronic Conductors. Adv Mater 2024; 36:e2310157. [PMID: 38198654 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202310157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Operational stability underpins the successful application of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) in a wide range of fields, including biosensing, neuromorphic computing, and wearable electronics. In this work, both the operation and stability of a p-type OMIEC material of various molecular weights are investigated. Electrochemical transistor measurements reveal that device operation is very stable for at least 300 charging/discharging cycles independent of molecular weight, provided the charge density is kept below the threshold where strong charge-charge interactions become likely. When electrochemically charged to higher charge densities, an increase in device hysteresis and a decrease in conductivity due to a drop in the hole mobility arising from long-range microstructural disruptions are observed. By employing operando X-ray scattering techniques, two regimes of polaron-induced structural changes are found: 1) polaron-induced structural ordering at low carrier densities, and 2) irreversible structural disordering that disrupts charge transport at high carrier densities, where charge-charge interactions are significant. These operando measurements also reveal that the transfer curve hysteresis at high carrier densities is accompanied by an analogous structural hysteresis, providing a microstructural basis for such instabilities. This work provides a mechanistic understanding of the structural dynamics and material instabilities of OMIEC materials during device operation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler J Quill
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Garrett LeCroy
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Adam Marks
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Sarah A Hesse
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA
| | - Quentin Thiburce
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Iain McCulloch
- Department of Chemistry University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK
| | - Christopher J Tassone
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA
| | - Christopher J Takacs
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA
| | - Alexander Giovannitti
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, SE-412 96, Sweden
| | - Alberto Salleo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
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LeCroy G, Cendra C, Quill TJ, Moser M, Hallani R, Ponder JF, Stone K, Kang SD, Liang AYL, Thiburce Q, McCulloch I, Spano FC, Giovannitti A, Salleo A. Role of aggregates and microstructure of mixed-ionic-electronic-conductors on charge transport in electrochemical transistors. Mater Horiz 2023. [PMID: 37089107 DOI: 10.1039/d3mh00017f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic efforts have delivered a library of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) with high performance in electrochemical transistors. The most promising materials are redox-active conjugated polymers with hydrophilic side chains that reach high transconductances in aqueous electrolytes due to volumetric electrochemical charging. Current approaches to improve transconductance and device stability focus mostly on materials chemistry including backbone and side chain design. However, other parameters such as the initial microstructure and microstructural rearrangements during electrochemical charging are equally important and are influenced by backbone and side chain chemistry. In this study, we employ a polymer system to investigate the fundamental electrochemical charging mechanisms of OMIECs. We couple in situ electronic charge transport measurements and spectroelectrochemistry with ex situ X-ray scattering electrochemical charging experiments and find that polymer chains planarize during electrochemical charging. Our work shows that the most effective conductivity modulation is related to electrochemical accessibility of well-ordered, interconnected aggregates that host high mobility electronic charge carriers. Electrochemical stress cycling induces microstructural changes, but we find that these aggregates can largely maintain order, providing insights on the structural stability and reversibility of electrochemical charging in these systems. This work shows the importance of material design for creating OMIECs that undergo structural rearrangements to accommodate ions and electronic charge carriers during which percolating networks are formed for efficient electronic charge transport.
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Affiliation(s)
- Garrett LeCroy
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Camila Cendra
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Tyler J Quill
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | | | - Rawad Hallani
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - James F Ponder
- Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433, USA
- UES, Inc., Dayton, Ohio 45432, USA
| | - Kevin Stone
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
| | - Stephen D Kang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | | | - Quentin Thiburce
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Iain McCulloch
- Department of Chemistry, Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), KAUST Solar Center, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Frank C Spano
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
| | - Alexander Giovannitti
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, 412 96, Sweden.
| | - Alberto Salleo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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3
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Tang T, Savva A, Traberg WC, Xu C, Thiburce Q, Liu HY, Pappa AM, Martinelli E, Withers A, Cornelius M, Salleo A, Owens RM, Daniel S. Functional Infectious Nanoparticle Detector: Finding Viruses by Detecting Their Host Entry Functions Using Organic Bioelectronic Devices. ACS Nano 2021; 15:18142-18152. [PMID: 34694775 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c06813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Emerging viruses will continue to be a threat to human health and wellbeing into the foreseeable future. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the necessity for rapid viral sensing and inhibitor screening in mitigating viral spread and impact. Here, we present a platform that uses a label-free electronic readout as well as a dual capability of optical (fluorescence) readout to sense the ability of a virus to bind and fuse with a host cell membrane, thereby sensing viral entry. This approach introduces a hitherto unseen level of specificity by distinguishing fusion-competent viruses from fusion-incompetent viruses. The ability to discern between competent and incompetent viruses means that this device could also be used for applications beyond detection, such as screening antiviral compounds for their ability to block virus entry mechanisms. Using optical means, we first demonstrate the ability to recapitulate the entry processes of influenza virus using a biomembrane containing the viral receptor that has been functionalized on a transparent organic bioelectronic device. Next, we detect virus membrane fusion, using the same, label-free devices. Using both reconstituted and native cell membranes as materials to functionalize organic bioelectronic devices, configured as electrodes and transistors, we measure changes in membrane properties when virus fusion is triggered by a pH drop, inducing hemagglutinin to undergo a conformational change that leads to membrane fusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany Tang
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Achilleas Savva
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Walther C Traberg
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Cheyan Xu
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Quentin Thiburce
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Han-Yuan Liu
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Anna-Maria Pappa
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Eleonora Martinelli
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Aimee Withers
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Mercedes Cornelius
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Alberto Salleo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Róisín M Owens
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Susan Daniel
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
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Pappa AM, Liu HY, Traberg-Christensen W, Thiburce Q, Savva A, Pavia A, Salleo A, Daniel S, Owens RM. Optical and Electronic Ion Channel Monitoring from Native Human Membranes. ACS Nano 2020; 14:12538-12545. [PMID: 32469490 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c01330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Transmembrane proteins represent a major target for modulating cell activity, both in terms of therapeutics drugs and for pathogen interactions. Work on screening such therapeutics or identifying toxins has been severely limited by the lack of available methods that would give high content information on functionality (ideally multimodal) and that are suitable for high-throughput. Here, we have demonstrated a platform that is capable of multimodal (optical and electronic) screening of ligand gated ion-channel activity in human-derived membranes. The TREK-1 ion-channel was expressed within supported lipid bilayers, formed via vesicle fusion of blebs obtained from the HEK cell line overexpressing TREK-1. The resulting reconstituted native membranes were confirmed via fluorescence recovery after photobleaching to form mobile bilayers on top of films of the polymeric electroactive transducer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). PEDOT:PSS electrodes were then used for quantitative electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements of ligand-mediated TREK-1 interactions with two compounds, spadin and arachidonic acid, known to suppress and activate TREK-1 channels, respectively. PEDOT:PSS-based organic electrochemical transistors were then used for combined optical and electronic measurements of TREK-1 functionality. The technology demonstrated here is highly promising for future high-throughput screening of transmembrane protein modulators owing to the robust nature of the membrane integrated device and the highly quantitative electrical signals obtained. This is in contrast with live-cell-based electrophysiology assays (e.g., patch clamp) which compare poorly in terms of cost, usability, and compatibility with optical transduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna-Maria Pappa
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Han-Yuan Liu
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Walther Traberg-Christensen
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Quentin Thiburce
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Achilleas Savva
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Aimie Pavia
- Department of Flexible Electronics, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines, CMP-EMSE, 13541 Gardanne, France
- Panaxium SAS, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Alberto Salleo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Susan Daniel
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Róisín M Owens
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, United Kingdom
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5
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Moser M, Hidalgo TC, Surgailis J, Gladisch J, Ghosh S, Sheelamanthula R, Thiburce Q, Giovannitti A, Salleo A, Gasparini N, Wadsworth A, Zozoulenko I, Berggren M, Stavrinidou E, Inal S, McCulloch I. Side Chain Redistribution as a Strategy to Boost Organic Electrochemical Transistor Performance and Stability. Adv Mater 2020; 32:e2002748. [PMID: 32754923 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202002748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
A series of glycolated polythiophenes for use in organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) is designed and synthesized, differing in the distribution of their ethylene glycol chains that are tethered to the conjugated backbone. While side chain redistribution does not have a significant impact on the optoelectronic properties of the polymers, this molecular engineering strategy strongly impacts the water uptake achieved in the polymers. By careful optimization of the water uptake in the polymer films, OECTs with unprecedented steady-state performances in terms of [μC* ] and current retentions up to 98% over 700 electrochemical switching cycles are developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Moser
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London, W12 0BZ, UK
| | - Tania Cecilia Hidalgo
- Organic Bioelectronics Laboratory, Biological Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Jokubas Surgailis
- Organic Bioelectronics Laboratory, Biological Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Johannes Gladisch
- Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
- Department of Science and Technology, Wallenberg Wood Science Center, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
| | - Sarbani Ghosh
- Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
| | - Rajendar Sheelamanthula
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Quentin Thiburce
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Alexander Giovannitti
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Alberto Salleo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Nicola Gasparini
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London, W12 0BZ, UK
| | - Andrew Wadsworth
- Department of Chemistry and Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, London, W12 0BZ, UK
| | - Igor Zozoulenko
- Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
- Department of Science and Technology, Wallenberg Wood Science Center, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
| | - Magnus Berggren
- Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
- Department of Science and Technology, Wallenberg Wood Science Center, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
| | - Eleni Stavrinidou
- Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
- Department of Science and Technology, Wallenberg Wood Science Center, Linköping University, Norrköping, SE-60174, Sweden
| | - Sahika Inal
- Organic Bioelectronics Laboratory, Biological Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Iain McCulloch
- Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK
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6
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Liu HY, Pappa AM, Pavia A, Pitsalidis C, Thiburce Q, Salleo A, Owens RM, Daniel S. Self-Assembly of Mammalian-Cell Membranes on Bioelectronic Devices with Functional Transmembrane Proteins. Langmuir 2020; 36:7325-7331. [PMID: 32388991 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c00804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Transmembrane proteins (TMPs) regulate processes occurring at the cell surface and are essential gatekeepers of information flow across the membrane. TMPs are difficult to study, given the complex environment of the membrane and its influence on protein conformation, mobility, biomolecule interaction, and activity. For the first time, we create mammalian biomembranes supported on a transparent, electrically conducting polymer surface, which enables dual electrical and optical monitoring of TMP function in its native membrane environment. Mammalian plasma membrane vesicles containing ATP-gated P2X2 ion channels self-assemble on a biocompatible polymer cushion that transduces the changes in ion flux during ATP exposure. This platform maintains the complexity of the native plasma membrane, the fluidity of its constituents, and protein orientation critical to ion channel function. We demonstrate the dual-modality readout using microscopy to characterize protein mobility by single-particle tracking and sensing of ATP gating of P2X2 using electrical impedance spectroscopy. This measurement of TMP activity important for pain sensing, neurological activity, and sensory activity raises new possibilities for drug screening and biosensing applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han-Yuan Liu
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Anna-Maria Pappa
- Department of Chemical Engineering and BiotechnologyUniversity of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, UK
| | - Aimie Pavia
- Department of Flexible Electronics, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines, CMP-EMSE, 13541 Gardanne, France
- Panaxium SAS, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Charalampos Pitsalidis
- Department of Chemical Engineering and BiotechnologyUniversity of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, UK
| | - Quentin Thiburce
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Alberto Salleo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 496 Lomita Mall, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Róisín M Owens
- Department of Chemical Engineering and BiotechnologyUniversity of Cambridge, Philippa Fawcett Drive, CB30AS Cambridge, UK
| | - Susan Daniel
- Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Olin Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
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7
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Giovannitti A, Rashid RB, Thiburce Q, Paulsen BD, Cendra C, Thorley K, Moia D, Mefford JT, Hanifi D, Weiyuan D, Moser M, Salleo A, Nelson J, McCulloch I, Rivnay J. Energetic Control of Redox-Active Polymers toward Safe Organic Bioelectronic Materials. Adv Mater 2020; 32:e1908047. [PMID: 32125736 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201908047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2019] [Revised: 02/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Avoiding faradaic side reactions during the operation of electrochemical devices is important to enhance the device stability, to achieve low power consumption, and to prevent the formation of reactive side-products. This is particularly important for bioelectronic devices, which are designed to operate in biological systems. While redox-active materials based on conducting and semiconducting polymers represent an exciting class of materials for bioelectronic devices, they are susceptible to electrochemical side-reactions with molecular oxygen during device operation. Here, electrochemical side reactions with molecular oxygen are shown to occur during organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) operation using high-performance, state-of-the-art OECT materials. Depending on the choice of the active material, such reactions yield hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ), a reactive side-product, which may be harmful to the local biological environment and may also accelerate device degradation. A design strategy is reported for the development of redox-active organic semiconductors based on donor-acceptor copolymers that prevents the formation of H2 O2 during device operation. This study elucidates the previously overlooked side-reactions between redox-active conjugated polymers and molecular oxygen in electrochemical devices for bioelectronics, which is critical for the operation of electrolyte-gated devices in application-relevant environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Giovannitti
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Reem B Rashid
- Simpson Querrey Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Quentin Thiburce
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Bryan D Paulsen
- Simpson Querrey Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Camila Cendra
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Karl Thorley
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Davide Moia
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - J Tyler Mefford
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - David Hanifi
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Du Weiyuan
- Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, KAUST Solar Center (KSC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Maximilian Moser
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Alberto Salleo
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Jenny Nelson
- Department of Physics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Iain McCulloch
- Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
- Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, KAUST Solar Center (KSC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Jonathan Rivnay
- Simpson Querrey Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
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8
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Abstract
Organic transistors with submicron dimensions have been shown to deviate from the expected behavior due to a variety of so-called "short-channel" effects, resulting in nonlinear output characteristics and a lack of current saturation, considerably limiting their use. Using an electrochemically doped polymer in which ions are dynamically injected and removed from the bulk of the semiconductor, we show that devices with nanoscale channel lengths down to 50 nm exhibit output curves with well-defined linear and saturation regimes. Additionally, they show very large on-currents on par with their microscale counterparts, large on-to-off ratios of 108, and record-high width-normalized transconductances above 10 S m-1. We believe this work paves the way for the fabrication of high-gain, high-current polymer integrated circuits such as sensor arrays operating at voltages below |1 V| and prepared using simple solution-processing methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quentin Thiburce
- Experimental Solid State Physics Group, Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
| | - Alexander Giovannitti
- Department of Chemistry , Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
- Centre for Plastic Electronics , Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
| | - Iain McCulloch
- Department of Chemistry , Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
- Centre for Plastic Electronics , Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
- Physical Science and Engineering Division , King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) , Thuwal 23955-6900 , Saudi Arabia
| | - Alasdair J Campbell
- Experimental Solid State Physics Group, Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
- Centre for Plastic Electronics , Imperial College London , South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ , United Kingdom
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9
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Razzell-Hollis J, Thiburce Q, Tsoi WC, Kim JS. Interfacial Chemical Composition and Molecular Order in Organic Photovoltaic Blend Thin Films Probed by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2016; 8:31469-31481. [PMID: 27786457 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b12124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Organic electronic devices invariably involve transfer of charge carriers between the organic layer and at least one metal electrode, and they are sensitive to the local properties of the organic film at those interfaces. Here, we demonstrate a new approach for using an advanced technique called surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) to quantitatively probe interfacial properties relevant to charge injection/extraction. Exploiting the evanescent electric field generated by a ∼7 nm thick layer of evaporated silver, Raman scattering from nearby molecules is enhanced by factors of 10-1000× and limited by a distance dependence with a measured decay length of only 7.6 nm. When applied to the study of an all-polymer 1:1 blend of P3HT and F8TBT used in organic solar cells, we find that the as-cast film is morphologically suited to charge extraction in inverted devices, with a top (anode) interface very rich in hole-transporting P3HT (74.5%) and a bottom (cathode) interface slightly rich in electron-transporting F8TBT (55%). While conventional, uninverted P3HT:F8TBT devices are reported to perform poorly compared to inverted devices, their efficiency can be improved by thermal annealing but only after evaporation of a metallic top electrode. This is explained by changes in composition at the top interface: annealing prior to silver evaporation leads to a greater P3HT concentration at the top interface to 83.3%, exaggerating the original distribution that favored inverted devices, while postevaporation annealing increases the concentration of F8TBT at the top interface to 34.8%, aiding the extraction of electrons in a conventional device. By nondestructively probing buried interfaces, SERS is a powerful tool for understanding the performance of organic electronic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Razzell-Hollis
- Department of Physics and Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London , London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Quentin Thiburce
- Department of Physics and Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London , London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Wing C Tsoi
- Department of Physics and Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London , London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
- SPECIFIC, College of Engineering, Swansea University , Swansea SA1 8EN, United Kingdom
| | - Ji-Seon Kim
- Department of Physics and Center for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London , London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
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