Engineering of Conjugated Polymers for Sensing Applications in Organic Electronics

Organic semiconductors have gained attention due to their versatility in various organic electronic applications. Polythiophenes like Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) are polymers that have been extensively investigated as reference materials due to their attractive properties such as flexibility, biocompatibility, lightweight, stretchability, solvent processing and charge-carrier mobilities in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). Despite the promising results obtained in OFETs, the implementation of conjugated polymers in other applications such as organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) has been limited due to the hydrophobic nature of the material. In this talk, we will discuss the development of new synthetic paths and methodologies to increase the interaction between the semiconductor layer and the aqueous electrolyte solution used in many sensing applications. Along with new synthetic routes the effects of side chain engineering over the polymer backbones have also been investigated. In particular, we have extensively studied the exchange of the conventional alkyl side chains for polar chains in various ratios to understand its effects on chemical and electrochemical doping processes, conjugated polymer nanoparticle formation, and mixed ionic and electronic conduction properties relevant for bioelectronic applications.