Search Results (202)

Nanostructures composed of semiconducting polymers that adopt highly ordered molecular arrangements at the nano- and microscale typically exhibit enhanced optoelectronic properties. In this study, we aim to establish a comprehensive correlation between nanostructures with varying degrees of molecular order—fabricated using diverse processing methods—and their tailored optoelectronic properties, as demonstrated by various energy devices. These properties include carrier mobility, electrical conductivity, and photovoltaic capabilities measured predominantly in films tens to hundreds of nanometers thick based on semiconducting polymers. Full article

This review article provides an introductory overview of organic bioelectronics, focusing on the creation of electrical devices that use specialized carbon-based semiconducting materials to interact successfully with biological processes. These organic materials demonstrate flexibility, biocompatibility, and the capacity to carry both electrical and ionic impulses, making them an ideal choice for connecting human tissue with electronic technology. The review study examines diverse materials, such as the conductive polymers Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and Polyaniline (PANI), along with critical devices like organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), which are exceptionally efficient for sensitive biosensing applications. Significant applications include implanted neural interfaces for the brain and nerves, wearable health monitoring, tissue engineering scaffolds that facilitate tissue repair, and sophisticated drug delivery systems. The review acknowledges current challenges, including long-term stability and safety, while envisioning a future where these technologies revolutionize healthcare, human–machine interaction, and environmental monitoring via continuous multidisciplinary innovation. Full article

Mass cytometry has promoted the development of single-cell analysis by enabling the highly multiplexed detection of cellular markers using metal-tagged antibodies or cells. Polymer-based mass cytometry reagents have played a critical role in this technique due to their structural versatility, high metal-loading capacity, and sensitivity. This review comprehensively examines the advances in polymer-based reagents for mass cytometry, focusing on their design principles, synthetic strategies, and biomedical applications. We systematically analyze three key categories: metal-chelating polymers with macrocyclic/acyclic chelators developed through controlled polymerization techniques, polymeric particles including encoded microspheres and semiconducting polymer dots, and emerging metal–organic frameworks with high metal-loading capacities. The discussion highlights how these engineered materials overcome spectral limitations of conventional flow cytometry while addressing current challenges in sensitivity, and multiplexing capacity. Finally, we outline current challenges and future research directions for developing polymer probes in single-cell mass cytometry. Full article

Copper (Cu) nanoparticles, known for their high electrical conductivity and cost-effectiveness, have emerged as essential materials in various applications from flexible electronics to antimicrobial agents. This work focuses on the synthesis and characterization of semiconductive nanostructured films composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with embedded Cu nanoparticles. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the structural, optical, electrical, and dielectric properties of the resulting nanocomposites. The results indicate a significant reduction in optical band gap, from 4.82 eV in pure PVA to 2.6–2.8 eV in the nanocomposites, alongside enhanced electrical conductivities reaching 1.20 S/cm for films with 5 wt.% Cu. Dielectric assessments further reveal high dielectric constants, underscoring the potential of these materials for flexible electronic applications. This work highlights the effectiveness of incorporating Cu nanoparticles into polymer matrices, paving the way for advanced materials that meet the demands of next-generation electronics. Full article

This study presented a novel reservoir computing (RC) system based on polymer electrolyte-gated MoS₂ transistors. The proposed transistors operate through lithium ion (Li⁺) intercalation, which induces reversible phase transitions between semiconducting 2H and metallic 1T’ phases in MoS₂ films. This mechanism enables dynamic conductance modulation with inherent nonlinearity and fading memory effects, rendering these transistors particularly suitable as reservoir nodes. Our RC implementation leverages time-multiplexed virtual nodes to reduce physical component requirements while maintaining rich temporal dynamics. Testing on a spoken digit recognition task using the NIST TI-46 dataset demonstrated 95.1% accuracy, while chaotic time-series prediction of the Lorenz system achieved a normalized root mean square error as low as 0.04. This work established polymer electrolyte-gated MoS₂ transistors as promising building blocks for efficient RC systems capable of processing complex temporal patterns, offering enhanced scalability, and practical applicability in neuromorphic computation. Full article

This review examines the distinct advantages of organic semiconductors over conventional insulating polymers as optically active materials in photonic applications. We analyze the fundamental principles governing their unique optical and electronic properties, from basic conjugated polymer systems to advanced molecular architectures. The review systematically explores key material classes, including polyfluorenes, polyphenylene vinylenes, and polythiophenes, highlighting their dual electrical–optical functionality unavailable in passive polymer systems. Particular attention is given to polymer blends, composites, and hybrid organic–inorganic systems, demonstrating how semiconductor properties enable enhanced performance through materials engineering. We contrast passive components with active photonic devices, illustrating how the semiconductor nature of these polymers facilitates novel functionalities beyond simple light guiding. The review explores emerging applications in neuromorphic photonics, quantum systems, and bio-integrated devices, where the combined electronic–optical properties of organic semiconductors create unique capabilities impossible with insulating polymers. Finally, we discuss design strategies for optimizing these distinctive properties and present perspectives on future developments. This review establishes organic semiconductors as transformative materials for advancing photonic technologies through their combined electronic–optical functionality. Full article

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a highly adaptable manufacturing technique used to fabricate high-quality thin films, making it essential across numerous industries. As materials fabrication processes progress, CVD has advanced to enable the precise deposition of both inorganic 2D materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, and high-quality polymeric thin films, offering excellent conformality and precise nanostructure control on a wide range of substrates. Conjugated conducting polymers have emerged as promising materials for next-generation electronic, optoelectronic, and energy storage devices due to their unique combination of electrical conductivity, optical transparency, ionic transport, and mechanical flexibility. Oxidative CVD (oCVD) involves the spontaneous reaction of oxidant and monomer vapors upon their adsorption onto the substrate surface, resulting in step-growth polymerization that commonly produces conducting or semiconducting polymer thin films. oCVD has gained significant attention for its ability to fabricate conjugated conducting polymers under vacuum conditions, allowing precise control over film thickness, doping levels, and nanostructure engineering. The low to moderate deposition temperature in the oCVD method enables the direct integration of conducting and semiconducting polymer thin films onto thermally sensitive substrates, including plants, paper, textiles, membranes, carbon fibers, and graphene. This review explores the fundamentals of the CVD process and vacuum-based manufacturing, while also highlighting recent advancements in the oCVD method for the fabrication of conjugated conducting and semiconducting polymer thin films. Full article

The rational design of ordered chromogenic supramolecular polymeric systems is critical for the advancement of next-generation stimuli-responsive, optical, and semiconducting materials. Previously, we reported the design of a stimuli-responsive, lamellar self-assembled platform composed of an imidazole-appended perylene diimide of varying methylene spacer length (n = 3, 4, and 6) and a commercially available diacid-functionalized diacetylene monomer, 10, 12 docosadiynedioic acid, in a 1:1 molar ratio. Herein, we expound on the importance of the composition of the imidazole-appended perylene diimide of varying methylene spacer length (n = 3, 4, and 6) and 10, 12 docosadiynedioic acid in the ratio of 2:1 to the supramolecular self-assembly, final morphology, and properties. Topochemical polymerization of the drop-cast films by UV radiation yielded blue-phase polydiacetylene formation, and subsequent thermal treatment of the films produced a thermoresponsive blue-to-red phase transformation. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies revealed a dual dependence of the methylene spacer length and stimuli treatment (UV and/or heat) on the thermal transitions of the films. Furthermore, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) showed well-defined hierarchical semiconducting nanostructures with interconnected “chessboard”-patterned lamellar stacking. Upon doping with an ionic liquid, the 2:1 platform showed higher ionic conductivity than the previous 1:1 one. The results presented here illustrate the importance of the composition and architecture to the ionic domain connectivity and ionic conductivity, which will have far-reaching implications for the rational design of semiconducting polymers for energy applications including fuel cells, batteries, ion-exchange membranes, and mixed ionic conductors. Full article

Tungsten microparticles were coated with globular or nanotubular polypyrrole in situ during the oxidation of pyrrole in aqueous medium with ammonium peroxydisulfate or iron(III) chloride, respectively. The resulting core–shell composites with various contents of tungsten were obtained as powders composed of metal particles embedded in a semiconducting polymer matrix. The coating of tungsten with polypyrrole was analysed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopies. The resistivity of composite powders was determined by the four-point van der Pauw method as a function of pressure applied up to 10 MPa. The degree of compression was also recorded and its relation to electrical properties is discussed on the basis of the percolation concept. The electrical properties of composites are afforded by polypyrrole matrix and they are independent of tungsten content. As the conducting tungsten particles are separated by polypyrrole shells, they cannot produce conducting pathways and behave similarly as a nonconducting filler. Full article

Bone defects restoration has always been an arduous challenge in the orthopedic field due to the limitations of conventional grafts. Bone tissue engineering offers an alternative approach by using biomimetic materials, stem cells, and growth factors that are able to improve the regeneration of bone tissue. Different biomaterials have attracted great interest in BTE applications, including the poly(3-hexylthiofene) (P3HT) conductive polymer, whose primary advantage is its capability to provide a native extracellular matrix-like environment. Based on this evidence, in this study, we evaluated the biological response of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells cultured on P3HT thin polymer film for 14 days. Our results suggest that P3HT represents a good substrate to induce osteogenic differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells, even in the absence of specific inductive growth factors, thus representing a promising strategy for bone regenerative medicine. Therefore, the system provided may offer an innovative platform for next-generation biocompatible materials for regenerative medicine. Full article

This study delves into the distinctive selective property exhibited by a non-conjugated cholesterol-based polymer, poly(CEM₁₁-b-EHA₇), in sorting semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWCNTs) within isooctane. Comprised of 11 repeating units of cholesteryloxycarbonyl-2-hydroxy methacrylate (CEM) and 7 repeating units of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (EHA), this non-conjugated polymer demonstrates robust supramolecular interactions across the sp² surface structure of carbon nanotubes and graphene. When coupled with the Double Liquid-Phase Extraction (DLPE) technology, the polymer effectively segregates s-SWCNTs into the isooctane phase (nonpolar) while excluding metallic SWCNTs (m-SWCNTs) in the water phase (polar). DLPE proves particularly efficient in partitioning larger-diameter s-SWCNTs (0.85–1.0 nm) compared to those dispersed directly in isooctane by poly(CEM₁₁-b-EHA₇) using direct liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) techniques for diameters ranging from 0.75 to 0.95 nm. The DLPE method, bolstered by poly(CEM₁₁-b-EHA₇), successfully eliminates impurities from s-SWCNT extraction, including residual metallic catalysts and carbonaceous substances, which constitute up to 20% of raw HiPCO SWCNTs. DLPE emerges as a scalable and straightforward approach for selectively extracting s-SWCNTs in nonpolar, low-boiling-point solvents like alkanes. These dispersions hold promise for fabricating fast-drying s-SWCNT inks, which are ideal for printed and flexible thin-film transistors. Full article

2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ) is a molecule widely employed as a very effective p-dopant of semi-conducting polymers, such as poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT). The CN stretching transitions of F4TCNQ are exceptionally sensitive to the charge state of the molecule, thus allowing the doping diagnosis via IR spectroscopy. Less pronounced frequency shifts can reveal characteristics of the intermolecular environment. We present a systematic study based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations and on experiments aimed at exploring how different factors, such as the charge state and the environment, modify the vibrational spectra of F4TCNQ. While several effects on the vibrational frequencies are well known and have been thoroughly investigated in the past, this study focuses on the infrared intensities of the CN stretching modes and reveals that they are strongly affected both by the charge state of the molecule and by the surrounding medium: it is then mandatory to consider such remarkable intensity modulation for any quantitative diagnosis based on spectroscopic measurements, e.g., concerning the number of F4TCNQ molecules involved in the formation of charge transfer complexes. Full article

Biodegradable electronic devices play a crucial role in addressing the escalating issue of electronic waste accumulation, which poses significant environmental threats. In this study, we explore the utilization of a methanol-based extract of the Elaeodendron buchananii plant blended with a carboxymethyl cellulose biopolymer to produce a biodegradable and environmentally friendly functional material for a resistive switching memory system using silver and tungsten electrodes. Our analyses revealed that these two materials chemically interact to generate a perfect composite with near semiconducting optical bandgap (4.01 eV). The resultant device exhibits O-type memory behavior, with a low ON/OFF ratio, strong endurance (≥${10}^3$ write/erase cycles), and satisfactory (≥${10}^3$) data retention. Furthermore, through a comprehensive transport mechanism analysis, we observed the formation of traps in the composite that significantly improved conduction in the device. In addition, we established that altering the voltage amplitude modifies the concentration of traps, leading to voltage amplitude-driven multiple resistance states. Overall, our findings underscore the potential of functionalizing polymers that can be functionalized by incorporating plant extracts, resulting in biodegradable and nonvolatile memory devices with promising performance metrics. Full article

Polymers containing π-conjugated segments are a diverse group of large molecules with semiconducting and emissive properties, with strong potential for use as active layers in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). Stable blue-emitting materials, which are utilized as emissive layers in solution-processed OLED devices, are essential for their commercialization. Achieving balanced charge injection is challenging due to the wide bandgap between the HOMO and LUMO energy levels. This study examines the optical and photophysical characteristics of blue-emitting polymers to contribute to the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of color purity and its stability during the operation of OLED devices. The investigated materials are a novel synthesized lab scale polymer, namely poly[(2,7-di(p-acetoxystyryl)-9-(2-ethylhexyl)-9H-carbazole-4,4′-diphenylsulfone)-co-poly(2,6-diphenylpyrydine-4,4′-diphenylsulfone] (CzCop), as well as three commercially supplied materials, namely Poly(9,9-di-n-octylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl) (PFO), poly[9,9-bis(2′-ethylhexyl) fluorene-2,7-diyl] (PBEHF), and poly (9,9-n-dihexyl-2,7-fluorene-alt-9-phenyl-3,6-carbazole) (F6PC). The materials were compared to evaluate their properties using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Photoluminescence, and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Additionally, the electrical characteristics of the OLED devices were investigated, as well as the stability of the electroluminescence emission spectrum during the device’s operation. Finally, the determined optical properties, combined with their photo- and electro-emission characteristics, provided significant insights into the color stability and selectivity of each material. Full article

Nanofibers can be produced by various techniques, such as a broad range of electrospinning techniques to produce nanofiber mats from different polymers or polymer blends, often filled with metallic or semiconducting nanoparticles or by different nanotechnological bottom-up or top-down methods. They are important parts of a wide variety of energy applications, such as batteries, fuel cells, photovoltaics, or hydrogen storage materials. Usually, their physical or chemical parameters are measured by averaging over a fiber bundle or a part of a nanofiber mat. Here, we report the possibility of measuring the different physical and chemical properties of single nanofibers and nanowires. Such measurements of single nanofiber properties are more complicated than investigations of fiber bundles or whole nanofiber mats and, thus, are less often found in the literature. After a fast increase in such investigations between 2001 and 2009, the numbers of respective studies are now stagnating. This review thus aims to make the different possibilities more visible to a broader scientific audience by providing several examples based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) and other broadly available techniques. The focus of this review is on technologies that reveal more information than the pure surface morphology of nanofibers or nanowires, such as mechanical properties or wettability, porosity, or electrical conductivity. Full article