Conjugated Polyelectrolyte Blends for Highly Stable Accumulation-Mode Electrochemical Transistors

Counterion exchange has been introduced as a method to modify properties of anionic conjugated polyelectrolyte (CPE) blends. Blending of two self-doped CPEs having metallic and semiconducting behavior has been achieved from two different solvents, by exchanging the counterion of the metallic component. Different blending conditions lead to films exhibiting different optical properties, depending on the aggregation states of the CPEs. Conductance responses for the blends showed the opportunity to tune threshold voltage of the films both by blending and counterion exchange. Therefore, the blends have been exploited for the fabrication of accumulation mode organic electrochemical transistors. These devices exhibit short switching times and high transconductance, up to 15.3 mS, as well as high stability upon fast pulsed cycles, retaining 88% of the drain currents after 2 × 103 cycles.