According to the researchers, displays and transistors manufactured from the polymer PEDOT:PSS have many advantages, including being simple and cheap to manufacture as well as non-hazardous.
“The lack of any threshold in the redox-switching characteristics of PEDOT:PSS hampers bistability and rectification, characteristics that would allow for passive matrix addressing in display or memory functionality” said senior lecturer Simone Fabiano.
To resolve this issue, the research team applied a thin layer of a ferroelectric material onto one electrode in an organic electrochemical device.
“The thickness of the layer determines the voltage at which the circuit switches or the display changes colour. Transistors are no longer required in the displays: we can control them pixel-by-pixel simply through a thin ferroelectric layer on the electrode,” Fabiano explained.
The research group showed that the combination of ferroelectricity and electrochemistry can be used in the field of printed electronics displays and in organic transistors. The scientists envisage, however, many other areas of application.
“Ferroelectrochemical components can easily be integrated into memory matrices and into bioelectronic applications, just to give a couple of examples,” Fabiano concluded.