CPM Seminar

Organic electronics at the interface with biology

Fabio Cicoira

Department of Chemical Engineering
École Polytechnique de Montréal

Organic electroactive materials are increasingly used to produce flexible, low-cost and easily processable electronic devices, such as organic light-emitting diodes, transistors and photovoltaic cells. Recently a great deal of attention is being paid to emerging technologies that exploit the ability of organics to conduct ions in addition to electron and holes. Examples of devices that exploit mixed ionic/electronic transport are: electrochromic devices, light-emitting electrochemical cells, electrolyte-gated transistors and organic electronic ion pumps. Mixed ionic/electronic transport opens exciting scenarios for organic electronic, which has been so far considered mostly as a flexible and low-cost alternative to well-established inorganic semiconductor technologies. In particular, because of the importance of ion fluxes in biology, mixed ionic/electronic transport is the underpinning of the new field of organic bioelectronics, which deals with the coupling of organic electronics with biological systems.

My research focuses on organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), a class of devices particularly attractive for applications in bioelectronics. OECTs can be operated in aqueous electrolytes as ion-to-electron converters and electrochemical sensors, thus providing an interface between the worlds of biology and electronics. OECTs have been investigated in the last decade as sensors for hydrogen peroxide, glucose, dopamine, chloride ions, cells and bacteria as well as tools to investigate electronic/ionic transport in conducting polymers.

I will discuss the fabrication of OECTs, their working mechanism and their use as sensors for various species of biological interest.

References:
[1] M. Berggren, A. Richter-Dahlfors, Adv. Mater. 19, 320, 2007;
[2] R. M.  Owens, G. G. Malliaras, MRS Bull. 35, 2010;
[3] F. Cicoira, M. Sessolo, O.  Yaghmazadeh, J. A. DeFranco, S. Y. Yang, G. G. Malliaras, Adv. Mater. 22, 1012, 2010;
[4] S. Y. Yang, F. Cicoira, R. Byrne, F. Benito-Lopez, D. Diamond, R. M. Owens, G. G. Malliaras, Chem. Commun. 46, 7972, 2010;
[5] G. Tarabella, C. Santato, S. Y. Yang, S. Iannotta, G. G. Malliaras, F. Cicoira, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 123304, 2010;
[6] O. Yaghmazadeh, F. Cicoira, D. A.  Bernards, S. Y. Yang, Y. Bonnassieux, G. G. Malliaras, J. Pol. Sci. Pt B: Polymer Physics 49, 34, 2011;
[7] G. Tarabella, G. Nanda, M. Villani, N.  Coppedè, R. Mosca, G. G. Malliaras, C. Santato, S. Iannotta, F. Cicoira, Chemical Science in press (DOI 10.1039/C2SC21020G).