Artificial skin that simultaneously mimics sensory feedback and mechanical properties of natural skin holds substantial promise for next-generation robotic and medical devices. However, achieving such a biomimetic system that can seamlessly integrate with the human body remains a challenge. Through rational design and engineering of material properties, device structures, and system architectures, we realized a monolithic soft prosthetic electronic skin (e-skin). It is capable of multimodal perception, neuromorphic pulse-train signal generation, and closed-loop actuation. With a trilayer, high-permittivity elastomeric dielectric, we achieved a low subthreshold swing comparable to that of polycrystalline silicon transistors, a low operation voltage, low power consumption, and medium-scale circuit integration complexity for stretchable organic devices. Our e-skin mimics the biological sensorimotor loop, whereby a solid-state synaptic transistor elicits stronger actuation when a stimulus of increasing pressure is applied.
Semiconducting polymers with oligoethylene glycol (OEG) sidechains have attracted strong research interest for organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) applications. However, key molecular design rules for high-performance OECTs via efficient mixed electronic/ionic charge transport are still unclear. In this work, new glycolated copolymers (gDPP-TTT and gDPP-TTVTT) with diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) acceptor and thiophene (T) and vinylene (V) thiophene-based donor units are synthesized and characterized for accumulation mode OECTs, where a long-alkyl-group (C 12 ) attached to the DPP unit acts as a spacer distancing the OEG groups from the polymer backbone. gDPP-TTVTT shows the highest OECT transconductance (61.9 S cm -1 ) and high operational stability, compared to gDPP-TTT and their alkylated counterparts. Surprisingly, gDPP-TTVTT also shows high electronic charge mobility in a field-effect transistor, suggesting efficient ion injection/diffusion without hindering its efficient electronic charge transport. The elongated donor unit (TTVTT) facilitates hole polaron formation to be more localized to the donor unit, leading to faster and easier polaron formation with less impact on polymer structure during OECT operation, as opposed to the TTT unit. This is supported by molecular dynamics simulation. These simultaneously high electronic and ionic charge-transport properties are achieved due to the long-alkyl-group spacer in amphipathic sidechains, providing an important molecular design rule for glycolated copolymers.
Robust mechanical properties and high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) are both the prerequisites for their application in wearable and stretchable electronics. However, these properties typically...
Polymer semiconductors having solubility in organic solvents
can
enable facile, low-cost, and large-area solution processes to fabricate
electronic devices with various applications. However, it has been
a challenge to build complicated circuits by using them due to device-to-device
variation. In this study, we designed a diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based
polymer with long and branched alkyl side chains to improve the solubility
of DPP polymers. While the long and branched side chains are introduced
to the DPP moieties for improved solubility, the far branching point
in the side chains was expected to prevent severe steric hindrance
of the long side chains and to allow DPP moieties to have π–π
interactions and form crystalline structures. To examine the feasibility
of using P29DPP-TT as a semiconductor in integrated electronic systems,
the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing technique was used in for
local area patterning. The organic field-effect transistors (OFETs)
incorporating EHD-printed P29DPP-TT yield promising field-effect mobility
(μFET) of 0.55 cm2 V–1 s–1. Complementary inverters and NAND/NOR logic
gates were also realized by fabricating OFETs with line-printed P29DPP-TT
and polymer gate dielectrics. It indicates that P29DPP-TT with excellent
solubility can be applied to solution-processed integrated electronic
devices.
Multi-carbazole thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules are promising emitters due to fast reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) rate, and high device efficiency. They are comprised of benzonitrile acceptor and four...
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