Fullerene Active Layers for n-Type Organic Electrochemical Transistors

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are currently being developed for applications ranging from bioelectronics to neuromorphic computing. We show that fullerene derivatives with glycolated side chains can serve as n-type active layers for OECTs with figures of merit exceeding the best reported conjugated-polymer-based n-type OECTs. By comparing two different fullerene derivatives, [6,6]-phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and 2-(2,3,4-tris(methoxtriglycol) phenyl) [60]fulleropyrrolidine (C60-TEG), we find that the hydrophilic glycolated side chains in C60-TEG enable volumetric doping of C60-TEG films. In contrast, the hydrophobic nature of PCBM prevents ions from penetrating into the material. Our results demonstrate that small-molecule semiconductors follow many of the same design principles established for conjugated polymers and can function as high-performing mixed electronic/ionic conductors for efficient, fast OECTs.