Handwritten and Sustainable Electronic Logic Circuits with Fully Printed Paper Transistors

Abstract

Printed electronics answers to the emerging trend of using truly inexpensive and easily accessible techniques to design and fabricate low‐cost and recyclable flexible electronic components. Nevertheless, printing of inorganic semiconductor materials arises some barriers for flexible electronics, as they usually may require high annealing temperatures to enhance their electronic performances, which are not compatible with paper. Here, the formulation of a water‐based, screen‐printable ink loaded with zinc oxide nanoparticles that does not require any sintering process is reported. The ink is used to create the channel in fully printed electrolyte‐gated transistors on paper, gated by a cellulose‐based ionic conductive sticker. The high conformability of the electrolyte‐sticker mitigates the effect of the surface roughness of the channel, yielding transistors that operate under low voltage (<2.5 V) with a current modulation above 104 and μSat ≈ 22 cm2 V−1 s−1. These devices operate even under moderate outward bending conditions. The screen‐printed transistors are readily integrated in “universal” logic gates (NOR and NAND) by using ubiquitous calligraphy accessories for patterning of conductive paths and graphitic load resistances. This demonstrates the manufacturing of reliable and recyclable cellulose‐based iontronic circuits with low power consumption, paving the way to a new era of sustainable “green” electronics.

Foldable and Recyclable Iontronic Cellulose Nanopaper for Low‐Power Paper Electronics

“…As demonstrated in our previous works, [32,33,35] high-capacitance cellulose-based ionic conductive hydrogels (CICHs), prepared by dissolving cellulose in an aqueous lithium hydroxide (LiOH)/urea solvent system, are promising ionic conductors for drastically reducing the transistors' operation voltage from tens of volts to just less than 3 V. However, these materials are not suitable to be used as substrates of electronic devices, since their hydrogel-nature makes them highly sensitive to environmental conditions, thus deforming the layers deposited on them.…”

Electrically Reconfigurable Organic Logic Gates: A Promising Perspective on a Dual‐Gate Antiambipolar Transistor

“…As a result, the reconfigurable logic gate operations have been limited to OR/AND, AND/NAND, or NOR/NAND combinations. [28][29][30][31] In this study, we propose a new reconfigurable logic circuit based on a single dual-gate organic antiambipolar transistor (DG-OAAT). An antiambipolar transistor (AAT) is a type of heterojunction transistor and is an essential component in the proposed circuit.…”

Contributions of Women in Recent Research on Biopolymer Science

“…They have been working on the development of paper-based transistors as an alternative to silicon-based components. These paper transistors could be used in different applications in daily life such as ‘smart’ packaging, biosensors, animated billboards, and networked shipping labels (Patent: EP2235741, EP2059810) [ 86 , 87 ]. Moreover, these materials are produced at room temperature and are biodegradable, which reduces the negative impact on the environment.…”