Revealing the Full Potential of Glycolated Mixed Ionic-Electronic Semiconductors – Symmetric Monomer Polymerization to Boost Electrochemical Transistor Performance
Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) enable the transduction of ionic signals into electronic outputs, positioning them as ideal candidates for next-generation sensing and (bio)signal processing applications. Recent years have witnessed the development of various OECT channel materials, affording insights into structural fine-tuning to achieve optimal performance and/or stability. However, homocouplings, commonly present in alternating conjugated polymers, have largely been overlooked. This study investigates the effect of homocoupling on OECT materials by employing two synthesis methods - standard Stille polymerization and an alternative symmetric approach - to create the p-type enhancement-mode benchmark polymer pgBTTT. The impact of homocoupling, and its absence, is studied by comparing the bulk properties of the two polymers and evaluating their respective OECT metrics. The new, homocoupling-free polymer exhibits a notably improved OECT performance (<i>μC*</i>), mainly due to an average 3-fold increase in electronic mobility (μ).
Authors
- Paola Mantegazza
- Garrett LeCroy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1677-6191)
- Koen Vandewal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5471-383X)
- Wouter Maes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7883-3393)
- Adam Marks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9819-4349)
- Christina Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8258-5329)
- Tyler J. Quill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2906-0747)
- Jochen Vanderspikken (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7059-0155)
- Stefania Moro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8445-4509)
- Giovanni Costantini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7916-3440)
- Yeongmin Park
- Arianna Magni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9376-4522)
- Lize Bynens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3411-0008)
- Laurence Lutsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3576-0945)
- Alberto Salleo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7448-9123)
- Arwin Goossens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1787-1091)
- Simon E. F. Spencer
Institutions
- University of Warwick (GB)
- IMEC (BE)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- Hasselt University (BE)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Published
- 2026-02-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c19024
- Primary Topic
- Conducting polymers and applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- European Commission
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Vlaamse regering
- Office of Science
- Basic Energy Sciences
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory