Electrolyte‐gated organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) hold promise for robust printed electronics operating at low voltages. The polarization mechanism of thin solid electrolyte films, the gate insulator in such OFETs, is still unclear and appears to limit the transient current characteristics of the transistors. Here, the polarization response of a thin proton membrane, a poly(styrenesulfonic acid) film, is controlled by varying the relative humidity. The formation of the conducting transistor channel follows the polarization of the polyelectrolyte, such that the drain transient current characteristics versus the time are rationalized by three different polarization mechanisms: the dipolar relaxation at high frequencies, the ionic relaxation (migration) at intermediate frequencies, and the electric double‐layer formation at the polyelectrolyte interfaces at low frequencies. The electric double layers of polyelectrolyte capacitors are formed in ∼1 µs at humid conditions and an effective capacitance per area of 10 µF cm−2 is obtained at 1 MHz, thus suggesting that this class of OFETs might operate at up to 1 MHz at 1 V.

In the emerging technology field of printed electronics, circuits are envisioned to be powered with printed energy sources, such as printed batteries and printed supercapacitors (SCs). For manufacturing and reliability issues, solid electrolytes are preferred instead of liquid electrolytes. Here, a solid‐state, polyanionic proton conducting electrolyte, poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PSS:H), is demonstrated for the first time as an effective ion conducting electrolyte medium in SCs with electrodes based on carbon nanotube (CNT) networks. The effect of the ionic conductivity in the PSS:H film of those SCs is studied at different levels of relative humidity (RH) with impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic charge‐discharge techniques. High capacitance values (85 F g−1 at 80% RH) are obtained for these SCs due to the extremely high effective electrode area of the CNTs and the enhanced ionic conductivity of the PSS:H film at increasing RH level. The charging dynamics are primarily limited by the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte rather than a poor contact between the electrolyte and the CNT electrodes. The use of polyelectrolytes in SCs provides high mechanical strength and flexibility, while maintaining a high capacitance value, enabling a new generation of printable solid‐state charge storage devices.

No abstract

Polyelectrolytes are promising materials as gate dielectrics in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs). Upon gate bias, their polarization induces an ionic charging current, which generates a large double layer capacitor (10–500 µF cm−2) at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface. The resulting transistor operates at low voltages (<1 V) and its conducting channel is formed in ∼50 µs. The effect of ionic currents on the performance of the OFETs is investigated by varying the relative humidity of the device ambience. Within defined humidity levels and potential values, the water electrolysis is negligible and the OFETs performances are optimum.

Printed electronics promise various kinds of sensor circuit labels, for applications in distributed sensing and monitoring, which can be manufactured using traditional printing tools at very low cost. Elevated humidity levels or water leakages cause tremendous costs in our society, such as in construction industries and in transportations. Distributed monitoring and remote sensing of the humidity level inside walls of buildings and packages is therefore desired and urgently needed. Here, we report a wireless humidity sensor label that is manufactured using screen-printing and dry-phase patterning. The sensor label includes a planar antenna, a tuning capacitor and a printed sensor-capacitor head. Through electromagnetic coupling between a reader and the printed sensor label, changes in humidity level were remotely detected and read-out as a shift of the resonant frequency. The manufacturing process of the humidity sensor label is fully compatible with inexpensive, reelto-reel processing technologies, thus enabling low cost production.