Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yuning Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Chemical Engineering and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN), University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Interests: printable electronic materials (polymers and nanomaterials) used in thin film transistors (for flexible displays, smart labels, chemo-/biosensors, themoelectrics, and memory devices); photovoltaics (for solar cells and photodetectors); and batteries

Dr. Jenner H. L. Ngai

E-Mail
Guest Editor

Department of Chemical Engineering and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN), University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
Interests: amide-based donor-acceptor polymers for sensor applications;organic synthesis; polymer synthesis; nanomaterials synthesis; chemical sensors; organic field-effect transistor (OFET); organic photovoltaic (OPV)

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Chemosensor based on organic thin film transistors or organic field effect transistors have the advantages of excellent processability using high-throughput printing techniques, mechanical robustness, tunable selectivity to various analytes, and compatibility to plastic or other flexible substrates. They have been extensively studied for detecting and monitoring changes in a variety of stimuli such as temperature, chemicals, biological substances, light, and pressure, utilizing the high sensitivity and selectivity of the functional molecules in the channel, dielectric, and/or electrode. Compared to resistor-based chemosensors, transistor-based devices not only have more output signals or are “smarter” when it comes to distinguishing different analytes, but they can also be seamlessly integrated with logic circuits. Therefore, chemosensors based on organic thin film transistors are particularly suitable for certain emerging applications, such as wearable electronics, electric skin, electric nose, and soft robotics.

This special issue aims to provide researchers with a platform to showcase the latest developments in the field of chemosensors based on organic thin film transistors. Both featured articles and original research papers are welcomed. The topics can be but is not limited to:

Functional organic (small molecules or polymers) semiconductors, gate dielectrics, and electrodes;
New material processing and device fabrication techniques;
New device design;
Applications of chemosensors based on organic thin film transistors;
Devices inducing chemical, biological sensors, phototransistors, thermal sensors, pressure sensors, water-gated sensors, electrochemical sensors, etc.

Dr. Yuning Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Chemosensors is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Organic thin film transistors
Organic field effect transistors
Biosensors
Chemical sensors
Phototransistors
Temperature sensors
pH sensors
Pressure sensors

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

12 pages, 1339 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Polyethylene and Semiconducting Polymer Blends for the Fabrication of Organic Field-Effect Transistors: Balancing Charge Transport and Stretchability

by Piumi Kulatunga, Nastaran Yousefi and Simon Rondeau-Gagné

Chemosensors 2022, 10(6), 201; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemosensors10060201 - 24 May 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2608

Abstract

Polyethylene is amongst the most used polymers, finding a plethora of applications in our lives owing to its high impact resistance, non-corrosive nature, light weight, cost effectiveness, and easy processing into various shapes from different sizes. Despite these outstanding features, the commodity polymer has been underexplored in the field of organic electronics. This work focuses on the development of new polymer blends based on a low molecular weight linear polyethylene (LPE) derivative with a high-performance diketopyrrolopyrrole-based semiconducting polymer. Physical blending of the polyethylene with semiconducting polymers was performed at ratios varying from 0 to 75 wt.%, and the resulting blends were carefully characterized to reveal their electronic and solid-state properties. The new polymer blends were also characterized to reveal the influence of polyethylene on the mechanical robustness and stretchability of the semiconducting polymer. Overall, the introduction of LPE was shown to have little to no effect on the solid-state properties of the materials, despite some influence on solid-state morphology through phase separation. Organic field-effect transistors prepared from the new blends showed good device characteristics, even at higher ratios of polyethylene, with an average mobility of 0.151 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at a 25 wt.% blend ratio. The addition of polyethylene was shown to have a plasticizing effect on the semiconducting polymers, helping to reduce crack width upon strain and contributing to devices accommodating more strain without suffering from decreased performance. The new blends presented in this work provide a novel platform from which to access more mechanically robust organic electronics and show promising features for the utilization of polyethylene for the solution processing of advanced semiconducting materials toward novel soft electronics and sensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functionalized Organic Thin Film Transistors for Sensing)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research

20 pages, 3370 KiB

Open AccessReview

Temperature Sensors Based on Organic Field-Effect Transistors

by John Polena, Daniel Afzal, Jenner H. L. Ngai and Yuning Li

Chemosensors 2022, 10(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemosensors10010012 - 27 Dec 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4459

Abstract

The rapid growth of wearable electronics, Internet of Things, smart packaging, and advanced healthcare technologies demand a large number of flexible, thin, lightweight, and ultralow-cost sensors. The accurate and precise determination of temperature in a narrow range (~0–50 °C) around ambient temperatures and near-body temperatures is critical for most of these applications. Temperature sensors based on organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) have the advantages of low manufacturing cost, excellent mechanical flexibility, easy integration with other devices, low cross-sensitivity, and multi-stimuli detectability and, therefore, are very suitable for the above applications. This article provides a timely overview of research progress in the development of OFET-based temperature sensors. First, the working mechanism of OFETs, the fundamental theories of charge transport in organic semiconductors, and common types of OFET temperature sensors based on the sensing element are briefly introduced. Next, notable advances in the development of OFET temperature sensors using small-molecule and polymer semiconductors are discussed separately. Finally, the progress of OFET temperature sensors is summarized, and the challenges associated with OFET temperature sensors and the perspectives of research directions in this field are presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functionalized Organic Thin Film Transistors for Sensing)

► Show Figures