Synergistic Effect of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Ladder-Type Conjugated Polymers on the Performance of N-Type Organic Electrochemical Transistors
Journal article, 2022

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have the potential to revolutionize the field of organic bioelectronics. To date, most of the reported OECTs include p-type (semi-)conducting polymers as the channel material, while n-type OECTs are yet at an early stage of development, with the best performing electron-transporting materials still suffering from low transconductance, low electron mobility, and slow response time. Here, the high electrical conductivity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and the large volumetric capacitance of the ladder-type π-conjugated redox polymer poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline) (BBL) are leveraged to develop n-type OECTs with record-high performance. It is demonstrated that the use of MWCNTs enhances the electron mobility by more than one order of magnitude, yielding fast transistor transient response (down to 15 ms) and high μC* (electron mobility × volumetric capacitance) of about 1 F cm−1 V−1 s−1. This enables the development of complementary inverters with a voltage gain of >16 and a large worst-case noise margin at a supply voltage of <0.6 V, while consuming less than 1 µW of power.

organic mixed ion-electron conductors

n-type organic electrochemical transistors

carbon nanotubes

ladder-type polymers

Author

Silan Zhang

Linköping University

Matteo Massetti

Linköping University

Tero Petri Ruoko

Linköping University

Deyu Tu

Linköping University

Chi Yuan Yang

Linköping University

X. J. Liu

Linköping University

Ziang Wu

Korea University

Yoonjoo Lee

Korea University

Renee Kroon

Linköping University

Per O.Å. Persson

Linköping University

Han Young Woo

Korea University

M. Berggren

Linköping University

Christian Müller

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

M. Fahlman

Linköping University

S. Fabiano

Linköping University

Advanced Functional Materials

1616-301X (ISSN) 16163028 (eISSN)

Vol. 32 1 2106447

Subject Categories

Textile, Rubber and Polymeric Materials

Materials Chemistry

Condensed Matter Physics

DOI

10.1002/adfm.202106447

More information

Latest update

4/5/2022 5