Review
Chemistry, Physical
Chenfang Sun, Xue Wang, Muhammad Aminu Auwalu, Shanshan Cheng, Wenping Hu
Summary: Organic thin film transistors (OTFTs)-based biosensors are capable of transferring biological signals into electrical signals, but developing sensors with excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and stability remains a challenge. Recent research has focused on various types of OTFTs, such as organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), electrolyte-gated OFETs (EGOFETs), and organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), for high-performance bioelectronics applications.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Rosemary R. Cranston, Mario C. Vebber, Jonatas Faleiro Berbigier, Nicole A. Rice, Claire Tonnele, Zachary J. Comeau, Nicholas T. Boileau, Jaclyn L. Brusso, Adam J. Shuhendler, Frederic Castet, Luca Muccioli, Timothy L. Kelly, Benoit H. Lessard
Summary: This study investigated eight axially substituted SiPcs and their application in solution-processed n-type OTFTs. It was found that the length of the alkyl chain affects device performance and thin-film morphology, and the effects of high-temperature annealing and spin coating time on film formation were explored. The study also revealed that thermal annealing and spin time significantly impact film crystallinity, morphology, and device performance, with bis(tri-n-butylsilyl oxide) SiPc showing the highest electron field-effect mobility among the studied materials.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Review
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Xin Ma, Hongquan Chen, Peiwen Zhang, Martin C. Hartel, Xiaona Cao, Sibel Emir Diltemiz, Qinglei Zhang, Javed Iqbal, Natan Roberto de Barros, Liyan Liu, Hao Liu
Summary: This paper describes the working principles of OTFT, including OFET and OECT, and compares the differences between them. It also discusses the potential for OTFT in biomarker sensing applications and improving patient outcomes.
IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xenofon Strakosas, Mary J. Donahue, Adel Hama, Marcel Braendlein, Miriam Huerta, Daniel T. Simon, Magnus Berggren, George G. Malliaras, Roisin M. Owens
Summary: There is a growing demand for direct in situ metabolite monitoring using implantable devices. Electrochemical biosensors are commonly preferred due to their low-cost, high sensitivity, and low complexity. The novel stacked enzyme configuration overcomes the challenge of toxic hydrogen peroxide production in high-glucose environments and demonstrates highly sensitive and stable detection of metabolites.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Chenfang Sun, Tie Wang
Summary: The early determination of disease-related biomarkers can improve patient survival rate significantly. Therefore, explorations for new diagnosis technologies, such as optical and electrochemical methods, have been devoted to life and health monitoring. Organic thin-film transistor (OTFT), as a label-free, low-cost, facial, and rapid detection technology, has attracted significant attention. However, the reliability and accuracy of the biosensor need to be improved while ensuring sensitivity, selectivity, and stability.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Ping Ren, Runqiao Song, Yong Zhu, Brendan O'Connor, Jingyan Dong
Summary: The demand for cost-effective fabrication of printed flexible transistors has increased due to the need for flexible interface devices like e-skins, wearables, and medical patches. This study develops electrohydrodynamic printing processes to fabricate all components of polymer-based organic thin film transistors, streamlining the fabrication procedure. The fully EHD-printed OTFTs show good electrical performance and great mechanical flexibility, providing a cost-effective route for flexible electronics.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zachary J. Comeau, Nicole A. Rice, Cory S. Harris, Adam J. Shuhendler, Benoit H. Lessard
Summary: This study investigates the relationship between thin-films of phthalocyanines (Pcs) with various substituents and their response to the cannabinoid Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) through organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) performance. The findings indicate that the morphology of semiconductor thin-films in Pc-based OTFT sensors can change significantly in the presence of analytes, driven by analyte-Pc coordination and film restructuring.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Yifan Wang, Si Cheng, Chenfang Sun, Tie Wang
Summary: Organic thin-film transistor (OTFTs)-based biosensors offer great potential in early disease diagnosis and clinical treatment due to their advantages of good flexibility, low-cost fabrication, reasonable sensitivity, and great biocompatibility for efficient determination of biomarkers in complex samples, including saliva, sweat, urine, and blood.
Article
Biophysics
Abhinav Sharma, Wejdan S. AlGhamdi, Hendrik Faber, Yen-Hung Lin, Chien-Hao Liu, En-Kai Hsu, Wei-Zhi Lin, Dipti Naphade, Suman Mandal, Martin Heeney, Thomas D. Anthopoulos
Summary: In this study, tri-channel In2O3/ZnO heterojunction thin-film transistors (TFTs) were developed to detect glucose in various biofluids. By immobilizing the enzyme glucose oxidase on the surface, the TFTs can selectively detect glucose through the strong coupling between the electrons transported along the buried In2O3/ZnO heterointerface and the electrostatic perturbations caused by the interactions between glucose and glucose oxidase. The BioTFTs demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for glucose detection in both artificial and real saliva.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Marco Roberto Cavallari, Loren Mora Pastrana, Carlos Daniel Flecha Sosa, Alejandra Maria Rodriguez Marquina, Jose Enrique Eirez Izquierdo, Fernando Josepetti Fonseca, Cleber Alexandre de Amorim, Leonardo Giordano Paterno, Ioannis Kymissis
Summary: Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) as gas sensor devices have shown remarkable performance in detecting important target analytes, with electronic properties modulated by molecular engineering. This manuscript provides a comprehensive review on the working principle of OTFTs for gas sensing, including device fabrication methods and recent applications of main organic semiconductors, alongside an outlook toward the future of this exciting technology.
Article
Polymer Science
Zhengran He, Ziyang Zhang, Kyeiwaa Asare-Yeboah, Sheng Bi, Jihua Chen, Dawen Li
Summary: This study demonstrated the use of a metal-containing semicrystalline polymer as an additive to mediate the thin film morphology of solution-grown, small-molecule organic semiconductors, resulting in improved performance of organic thin film transistors.
Article
Biophysics
Sanghoon Baek, Hiroyuki Matsui, Taisei Mano, Ju An Park, Youngmin Jo, Yongwoo Lee, Shizuo Tokito, Jimin Kwon, Sungjune Jung
Summary: Organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) with an electrochemically functionalized sensing gate are promising platforms for wearable health-monitoring technologies. In this work, flexible printed dual-gate (DG) organic TFTs operating in the subthreshold regime are presented, achieving ultralow power and high sensitivity. An enzymatic lactate-sensing extended-gate electrode is integrated into the printed DG TFT, showing exceptional sensitivity (0.77) and ultralow static power consumption (10 nW) in physiological lactate monitoring with human saliva.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Neville J. Cory, Eran Visser, Jessica Chamier, Juliet Sackey, Franscious Cummings, Mahabubur Chowdhury
Summary: In this study, a CuO thin film sensor was prepared using electrodeposition method for photo electrochemical glucose detection, showing good amperometric performance and a wide linear range under light conditions. The band gap of photoactive CuO thin film can be tuned by etching in NH3 solution, and the oxidation of glucose is found to be an irreversible electron transfer process controlled by diffusion.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Sungmin On, Young-Joon Kim, Han-Koo Lee, Hocheon Yoo
Summary: The study systematically investigated the chemical and morphological structure of small-molecule organic semiconductor heterostructures, demonstrating ambipolar and anti-ambipolar transistors with unique applications.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Sofia Drakopoulou, Mauro Murgia, Cristiano Albonetti, Simone Benaglia, Francesco Borgatti, Michele Di Lauro, Michele Bianchi, Pierpaolo Greco, David Papo, Ricardo Garcia, Andrea Alessandrini, Fabio Biscarini
Summary: A growth mode of pentacene thin films is discovered that exhibits varying morphology between rough 3D films and smooth 2D films as the thickness increases. The roughness and thickness exhibit coherent oscillations, with increasing amplitude and wavelength as multiples of 1.5 ML thickness. These oscillations are attributed to dynamic wetting/dewetting transitions in the upper layers of the pentacene film. The transconductance of organic field effect transistors also exhibits oscillations, with charge mobilities reaching high values in the wetting regime.
ADVANCED ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Connor P. Sherwood, Daniel C. Elkington, Michael R. Dickinson, Warwick J. Belcher, Paul C. Dastoor, Krishna Feron, Alan M. Brichta, Rebecca Lim, Matthew J. Griffith
Summary: The research demonstrates the potential application of using organic semiconductor devices as photocapacitors in neural interface technologies. By characterizing different device architectures and conducting related tests, the study explores the photoresponse mechanism, advantages, and limitations of these devices.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Applied
M. Bergin, T. A. Myles, A. Radic, C. J. Hatchwell, S. M. Lambrick, D. J. Ward, S. D. Eder, A. Fahy, M. Barr, P. C. Dastoor
Summary: Low-cost optical components with complex internal geometries can be fabricated using resin stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing, achieving the required vacuum properties without in situ baking. A case study demonstrates that a redesigned pinhole plate optical element, manufactured using SLA 3D printing, minimizes key sources of background signal compared to the original machined component.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Alaa Al-Ahmad, Damian Clark, John Holdsworth, Benjamin Vaughan, Warwick Belcher, Paul Dastoor
Summary: This article presents the optical design, fabrication, and evaluation of a low-cost solar simulator for photovoltaic device testing. The simulator design uses ten different high-power LEDs arranged in a hexagonal geometry to achieve excellent spatial nonuniformity of irradiance while minimizing the number of LEDs required. The design demonstrates AAA performance and low total material cost, making it an economical choice for electrical performance testing of photovoltaic devices.
IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS
(2022)
Article
Microscopy
M. Bergin, W. Roland-Batty, C. J. Hatchwell, T. A. Myles, J. Martens, A. Fahy, M. Barr, W. J. Belcher, P. C. Dastoor
Summary: This paper presents a method for determining the resolution of scanning helium microscopy, including quantitative measurements using appropriate test samples. The aim is to establish a consensus-based protocol for this developing technique, enabling comparable quantitative measurements of surface topography and direct comparisons between different instruments.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Alaa Y. Ali, Natalie P. Holmes, Mohsen Ameri, Krishna Feron, Mahir N. Thameel, Matthew G. Barr, Adam Fahy, John Holdsworth, Warwick Belcher, Paul Dastoor, Xiaojing Zhou
Summary: This study demonstrates the production of graphene thin films with good conductivity and transparency using chemical vapour deposition. The graphene films were successfully used as transparent electrodes in organic photovoltaics, resulting in improved performance of the solar cells.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Riku Chowdhury, Natalie P. Holmes, Nathan Cooling, Warwick J. Belcher, Paul C. Dastoor, Xiaojing Zhou
Summary: The fabrication of organic photovoltaics using non-hazardous nanoparticulate inks offers promise for ecofriendly large-scale printed solar modules. Surfactant engineering can optimize the morphology of the nanoparticles and improve the photovoltaic performance.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Alaa Al-Ahmad, Benjamin Vaughan, John Holdsworth, Warwick Belcher, Xiaojing Zhou, Paul Dastoor
Summary: The performance of the electron transport layer is crucial for the operational lifespan of organic photovoltaic devices. Comparing calcium (Ca) and zinc oxide (ZnO) as electron transport layers, it has been found that the ZnO layer provides better stability and higher power conversion efficiency for encapsulated bulk heterojunction OPV devices.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Alaa Al-Ahmad, John Holdsworth, Benjamin Vaughan, Warwick Belcher, Xiaojing Zhou, Paul Dastoor
Summary: The solar simulator is crucial for the development and testing of photovoltaic devices. LED-based solar simulation offers better electrical efficiency and irradiance uniformity while meeting spectral intensity requirements. This work presents a scalable, large-area LED-based solar simulator design that meets Class AAA performance standards for printed solar cell testing.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Justine Bull, Sophie Cottam, Isaac A. Gill, Paul C. Dastoor, Natalie P. Holmes
Summary: In this undergraduate teaching laboratory, students synthesize and characterize colloidal nanoparticles of organic semiconductors and evaluate their suitability for printed electronics applications. The laboratory exercise includes characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy, and teaches students how to match electron donating and accepting materials based on literature characteristics. The exercise was well-received by the students and can be adapted for various disciplines and levels of experience.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sabrina D. Eder, Adam Fahy, Matthew G. Barr, J. R. Manson, Bodil Holst, Paul C. Dastoor
Summary: Neutral helium microscopy is a completely nondestructive, surface-sensitive imaging technique that can be used to observe sub-resolution contrast of nanoscale thin films, providing information on the topography of the surface features and obtaining a macroscopic overview. This technique has wide applications.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Connor P. Sherwood, Rafael Crovador, Jessie A. Posar, Nathan Brichta, Matthew P. Simunovic, Fiona Louie, Paul C. Dastoor, Alan M. Brichta, Julie M. Cairney, Natalie P. Holmes, Rebecca Lim, Matthew J. Griffith
Summary: Organic semiconductors are promising materials for neural interfaces due to their biocompatibility, soft mechanical properties, and electron/ion conduction. This study explores the optoelectronic and neural interfacing properties of six organic semiconductor polymers and small molecules, which could be used for trichromatic artificial retinas. The biocompatibility of these materials is confirmed through cell viability and morphological analysis, although differences in morphological compatibility are observed compared to a glass control.
ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Physics, Applied
M. Bergin, J. Martens, P. C. Dastoor
Summary: By imaging the distribution of electron population on the ioniser, it was found that the instability of the detector at high electron densities is caused by non-uniformities in the electron distribution. The formation of a virtual cathode and a plasma instability are proposed as the origins of this non-uniformity.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Alaa Y. Y. Ali, Natalie P. P. Holmes, Nathan Cooling, John Holdsworth, Warwick Belcher, Paul Dastoor, Xiaojing Zhou
Summary: The performance of P3HT:PCBM organic photovoltaic devices is influenced by environmental conditions, thermal annealing, and material blend composition. Optimized laboratory fabricated devices show that humidity during fabrication can cause electrode oxidation and photo-oxidation, while thermal annealing can enhance device performance by modifying the morphology of the active layer. Additionally, the choice of PEDOT:PSS material affects the performance of P3HT:PCBM devices.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
S. M. Lambrick, M. Bergin, D. J. Ward, M. Barr, A. Fahy, T. Myles, A. Radic, P. C. Dastoor, J. Ellis, A. P. Jardine
Summary: In this study, results obtained from a scanning helium microscope (SHeM) under typical operating conditions are presented, showing the observation of diffuse scattering with an approximately cosine-like distribution centered about the surface normal. This distribution is markedly different from those observed from well-prepared surfaces typically studied in helium atom scattering experiments. Knowledge of the typical scattering distribution in SHeM experiments serves as a basis for interpreting topographic contrast in images and comparing against more exotic contrast mechanisms.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Matthew G. Barr, Sylvain Chambon, Adam Fahy, Timothy W. Jones, Matthew A. Marcus, A. L. David Kilcoyne, Paul C. Dastoor, Matthew J. Griffith, Natalie P. Holmes
Summary: The internal structure of nanoparticles can be controlled by adjusting the surface energy difference, allowing for different structures such as core-shell, molecularly intermixed, or shell-core. This approach can be used to customize nanoparticulate colloidal inks for a wide range of functional printing applications, reshaping the nanoengineering toolkit for waterborne colloidal dispersions and printed electronics.
MATERIALS CHEMISTRY FRONTIERS
(2021)
