Printable organic electrochemical circuit to record time-temperature history

An electrochemical circuit to record time-temperature history has been realized by using the propagation of over-oxidation fronts in stripes of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiopehene) blended with poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The over-oxidation front propagation has been characterized and related to the phase change of polyethylene glycol (PEG) electrolytes. The electrolytes were chosen to have a phase transition in the temperature interval to be monitored, resulting in large conductivity variations and thereby an easily interpreted output. A demonstrator has been fabricated and shown to detect a temperature increase and a following temperature decrease. This very simple device is cheap to produce and could be used to monitor the temperature of packages. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.