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Organic light-emitting electrochemical cells (LEC) are promising for lighting applications but in many cases these devices suffer from unbalanced electrochemical doping, which cause instability and degradation of the cells. A predominant p-doping over n-doping causes an off-centered emissive p–n junction, which leads to poor power-conversion efficiency. Here, we report a half-gate LEC transistor (HG-LECT), in which an ion-conductive gate made from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly-(styrenesulfonate) is employed to combat this instability problem. The gate material, covering half of the channel, is used to enhance the n-doping process in this part by employing an appropriate operation protocol. We demonstrate a centered light emission zone, closely following the geometry of the gate configuration. The HG-LECT with centered emission profile is shown to be more efficient than the corresponding LEC without the gate electrode, and its n-doping level is measured to be 15%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) chemically doped with poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) is a material system commonly used as a conductive and transparent coating in several important electronic applications. The material is also electrochemically active and exhibits electrochromic (EC) properties making it suitable as the active element in EC display applications. In this work uniformly coated PEDOT:PSS layers were used both as the pixel electrode and as the counter electrode in EC display components. The pixel and counter electrodes were separated by a whitish opaque and water-based polyelectrolyte and the thicknesses of the two EC layers were varied independently in order to optimize the color contrast of the display element. A color contrast (ΔE ∗, CIE L ∗ a ∗ b ∗ color space) exceeding 40 was obtained with maintained relatively short switching time at an operational voltage less than 2V. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Polyelectrolytes are promising electronicallyinsulating layers for low-voltage organic field effect transistors.However, the polyelectrolyte–semiconductor interface is difficultto manufacture due to challenges in wettability. We introduce an amphiphilicsemiconducting copolymer which, when spread as a thin film, can changeits surface from hydrophobic to hydrophilic upon exposure to water.This peculiar wettability is exploited in the fabrication of polyelectrolyte-gatedfield-effect transistors operating below 0.5 V. The prepared amphiphilicsemiconducting copolymer is based on a hydrophobic regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT) covalently linked to a hydrophilic poly(sulfonated)-based randomblock. Such a copolymer is obtained in a three-step strategy combiningGrignard metathesis (GRIM), atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP)processes, and a postmodification method. The structure of the diblockcopolymer was characterized using FT-IR, 1H NMR spectroscopy,and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report a method for inkjet-printing an organic semiconductor layer on top of the electrolyte insulator layer in polyelectrolyte-gated OFETs by using a surface modification treatment to overcome the underlying wettability problem at this interface. The method includes depositing an amphiphilic diblock copolymer (P3HT-b-PDMAEMA). This material is designed to have one set of blocks that mimics the hydrophobic properties of the semiconductor (poly(3-hexylthiophene) or P3HT), while the other set of blocks include polar components that improve adhesion to the polyelectrolyte insulator. Contact angle measurements, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm formation of the desired surface modification film. Successful inkjet printing of a smooth semiconductor layer allows us to manufacture complete transistor structures that exhibit low-voltage operation in the range of 1V. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]