Molecularly Engineered Degradable PCTPU–PAA Dielectrics With Boosted Carrier Mobility for Retina‐Mimic Neuromorphic Visual Sensors Toward Closed‐Loop Green Flexible Electronics

Conventional polyurethane-based dielectrics are mostly nondegradable fossil-derived materials lacking effective end-of-life management, leading to massive electronic waste and unsustainable life cycles-key barriers to the green transition of flexible electronics. Despite their desirable stretchability and self-healing, inherent limitations in dielectric polarization and interfacial modulation restrict optoelectronic performance, creating an unresolved trade-off between functionality and sustainability. Guided by green chemical engineering and circular economy principles, we designed a degradable polycarbonate-based thermoplastic polyurethane (PCTPU) by incorporating PC soft segments into the polyurethane backbone, and constructed a robust non-covalent hydrogen-bonding network via poly (amic acid) (PAA) blending to synergistically regulate dielectric polarization and interfacial compatibility. The PCTPU-PAA composite exhibits excellent mechanical performance and enhanced self-healing property. Notably, when integrated into organic neuromorphic visual sensors (ONeuVS), the composite enables a ∼7.6-fold enhancement in carrier mobility versus bare PCTPU sensors. It also endows ONeuVS with enhanced retinal-like photoresponsiveness, achieving 92.67% accuracy in handwritten digit recognition while reducing neural network training costs. Critically, a scalable multi-solvent stepwise separation method achieves efficient degradation and recovery, realizing a closed-loop life cycle. This work establishes a scalable molecular engineering strategy for high-performance, sustainable flexible dielectrics and devices, breaking the performance-sustainability trade-off and facilitating their large-scale green applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2026-08-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.74824
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Molecularly Engineered Degradable PCTPU–PAA Dielectrics With Boosted Carrier Mobility for Retina‐Mimic Neuromorphic Visual Sensors Toward Closed‐Loop Green Flexible Electronics

Zijie Yang, Deyang Ji, Bin Wang, Xiaoyu Zhang et al.
Advanced Materials
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

Molecularly Engineered Degradable PCTPU–PAA Dielectrics With Boosted Carrier Mobility for Retina‐Mimic Neuromorphic Visual Sensors Toward Closed‐Loop Green Flexible Electronics

Zijie Yang, Deyang Ji, Bin Wang, Xiaoyu Zhang, Weiyu Wang, Wenping Hu, Hui Yang
article en

Abstract

Conventional polyurethane-based dielectrics are mostly nondegradable fossil-derived materials lacking effective end-of-life management, leading to massive electronic waste and unsustainable life cycles-key barriers to the green transition of flexible electronics. Despite their desirable stretchability and self-healing, inherent limitations in dielectric polarization and interfacial modulation restrict optoelectronic performance, creating an unresolved trade-off between functionality and sustainability. Guided by green chemical engineering and circular economy principles, we designed a degradable polycarbonate-based thermoplastic polyurethane (PCTPU) by incorporating PC soft segments into the polyurethane backbone, and constructed a robust non-covalent hydrogen-bonding network via poly (amic acid) (PAA) blending to synergistically regulate dielectric polarization and interfacial compatibility. The PCTPU-PAA composite exhibits excellent mechanical performance and enhanced self-healing property. Notably, when integrated into organic neuromorphic visual sensors (ONeuVS), the composite enables a ∼7.6-fold enhancement in carrier mobility versus bare PCTPU sensors. It also endows ONeuVS with enhanced retinal-like photoresponsiveness, achieving 92.67% accuracy in handwritten digit recognition while reducing neural network training costs. Critically, a scalable multi-solvent stepwise separation method achieves efficient degradation and recovery, realizing a closed-loop life cycle. This work establishes a scalable molecular engineering strategy for high-performance, sustainable flexible dielectrics and devices, breaking the performance-sustainability trade-off and facilitating their large-scale green applications.

Advanced Materials
Tianjin University of Technology (CN), Tianjin University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
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