Algal polysaccharide Sacran-based conductive nanocomposites for ultrathin flexible and biodegradable organic electrochemical transistors
Source abstract
Abstract
Abstract Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have emerged as essential components in various applications, including bioelectronics, neuromorphics, sensing, and flexible electronics. Recently, efforts have been directed toward developing flexible and sustainable OECTs to enhance their integration into wearable and implantable biomedical devices. In this work, we introduce a novel PEDOT:Sacran bio-nanocomposite as a channel material for flexible and biodegradable OECTs. Sacran, a high-molecular-weight polysaccharide derived from blue-green algae, possesses exceptional ionic conductivity, water retention, and biocompatibility, making it a promising candidate for bioelectronic applications. We successfully fabricated ultrathin and flexible OECTs on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) foils, achieving transconductance values up to 7.4 mS. The devices exhibited stable ion-to-electron transduction after mechanical deformation. The OECTs were further demonstrated on eco-friendly and biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) substrates, achieving a transconductance of 1.6 mS and undergoing enzymatic hydrolysis under controlled conditions. This study highlights the potential of Sacran-based conductive bio-nanocomposites in advancing sustainable bioelectronic devices.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Electrochemical sensors and biosensors · Conducting polymers and applications · Analytical Chemistry and Sensors
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (68)
Show source-provided references
1. Rivnay, J. et al. Organic electrochemical transistors. Nat. Rev. Mater. 3, https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2017.86 (2018).10.1038/natrevmats.2017.86 ↗
2. Ji, X. et al. Mimicking associative learning using an ion-trapping non-volatile synaptic organic electrochemical transistor. Nat. Commun. 12, 2480 (2021).10.1038/s41467-021-22680-5 ↗
3. Inal, S., Malliaras, G. G. & Rivnay, J. Benchmarking organic mixed conductors for transistors. Nat. Commun. 8, 1767 (2017).10.1038/s41467-017-01812-w ↗
4. Salvigni, L. et al. Reconfiguration of organic electrochemical transistors for high-accuracy potentiometric sensing. Nat. Commun. 15, 6499 (2024).10.1038/s41467-024-50792-1 ↗
5. Wang, Y. et al. An optoelectrochemical synapse based on a single-component n-type mixed conductor. Nat. Commun. 16, 1615 (2025).10.1038/s41467-025-56814-w ↗
6. Guo, K. et al. Rapid single-molecule detection of COVID-19 and MERS antigens via nanobody-functionalized organic electrochemical transistors. Nat. Biomed. Eng. 5, 666–677 (2021).10.1038/s41551-021-00734-9 ↗
7. Druet, V. et al. A single n-type semiconducting polymer-based photo-electrochemical transistor. Nat. Commun. 14, 5481 (2023).10.1038/s41467-023-41313-7 ↗
8. Uguz, I. et al. Flexible switch matrix addressable electrode arrays with organic electrochemical transistor and pn diode technology. Nat. Commun. 15, 533 (2024).10.1038/s41467-023-44024-1 ↗
9. Belleri, P. et al. Unravelling the operation of organic artificial neurons for neuromorphic bioelectronics. Nat. Commun. 15, 5350 (2024).10.1038/s41467-024-49668-1 ↗
10. Yao, Y. et al. Flexible and stretchable organic electrochemical transistors for physiological sensing devices. Adv. Mater.35, e2209906 (2023).10.1002/adma.202209906 ↗
11. Granelli, R., Kovács-Vajna, Z. M. & Torricelli, F. Additive manufacturing of organic electrochemical transistors: methods, device architectures, and emerging applications. Small21, e2410499 (2025).10.1002/smll.202410499 ↗
12. Zhu, L. et al. Flexible organic electrochemical transistors for energy-efficient neuromorphic computing. Nanomaterials14, 1195 (2024).10.3390/nano14141195 ↗
13. Zhu, Z. et al. The rising of flexible organic electrochemical transistors in sensors and intelligent circuits. ACS Nano 19, 4084–4120 (2025).10.1021/acsnano.4c12892 ↗
14. Lu, Z. et al. Biomolecule sensors based on organic electrochemical transistors. npj Flex. Electron. 9, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00383-x (2025).10.1038/s41528-025-00383-x ↗
15. Khoury, F., Saleh, S., Badawe, H., Obeid, M. & Khraiche, M. Inkjet-printed, flexible organic electrochemical transistors for high-performance electrocorticography recordings. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 16, 55045–55055 (2024).
16. Gueye, M. N., Carella, A., Faure-Vincent, J., Demadrille, R. & Simonato, J.-P. Progress in understanding structure and transport properties of PEDOT-based materials: a critical review. Prog. Mater. Sci. 108, 100616 (2020).10.1016/j.pmatsci.2019.100616 ↗
17. Huang, W. et al. Vertical organic electrochemical transistors for complementary circuits. Nature 613, 496–502 (2023).10.1038/s41586-022-05592-2 ↗
18. Dai, S. et al. Vertical-structure overcomes the strain limit of stretchable organic electrochemical transistors. Adv. Mater.37, e2413951 (2025).10.1002/adma.202413951 ↗
19. Takemoto, A. et al. Fully transparent, ultrathin flexible organic electrochemical transistors with additive integration for bioelectronic applications. Adv. Sci.10, e2204746 (2023).10.1002/advs.202204746 ↗
20. Massetti, M. et al. Fully 3D-printed organic electrochemical transistors. npj Flex. Electron. 7, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-023-00245-4 (2023).10.1038/s41528-023-00245-4 ↗
21. Zabihipour, M. et al. High yield manufacturing of fully screen-printed organic electrochemical transistors. npj Flex. Electron. 4, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-020-0078-9 (2020).10.1038/s41528-020-0078-9 ↗
22. Lin, P., Luo, X., Hsing, I.-M. & Yan, F. Organic electrochemical transistors integrated in flexible microfluidic systems and used for label-free DNA sensing. Adv. Mater.23, 4035–4040 (2011).10.1002/adma.201102017 ↗
23. Li, Y. et al. Boosting the performance of PEDOT:PSS based electronics via ionic liquids. Adv. Mater.36, e2310973 (2024).10.1002/adma.202310973 ↗
24. Fumeaux, N., Almeida, C. P., Demuru, S. & Briand, D. Organic electrochemical transistors printed from degradable materials as disposable biochemical sensors. Sci. Rep. 13, 11467 (2023).10.1038/s41598-023-38308-1 ↗
25. Lopez-Larrea, N. et al. PNIPAM/PEDOT:PSS hydrogels for multifunctional organic electrochemical transistors. Adv. Funct. Mater. 34, 03708 (2024).10.1002/adfm.202403708 ↗
26. Nepa, F. et al. An organic electrochemical transistor fabricated on waxy-sublimating substrates. IEEE Sens. J. 24, 34011–34016 (2024).10.1109/JSEN.2024.3458041 ↗
27. Mantione, D., Del Agua, I., Sanchez-Sanchez, A. & Mecerreyes, D. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) derivatives: innovative conductive polymers for bioelectronics. Polymers 9, https://doi.org/10.3390/polym9080354 (2017).10.3390/polym9080354 ↗
28. Tekoglu, S., Wielend, D., Scharber, M. C., Sariciftci, N. S. & Yumusak, C. Conducting polymer-based biocomposites using deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as counterion. Adv. Mater. Technol. 5, https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.201900699 (2020).10.1002/admt.201900699 ↗
29. Matura, K. et al. Nanocrystalline cellulose-based mixed ionic–electronic conductor for bioelectronics. J. Mater. Chem. C12, 16701–16713 (2024).10.1039/D4TC03264K ↗
30. Del Agua, I. et al. Conducting polymer iongels based on PEDOT and guar gum. ACS Macro Lett. 6, 473–478 (2017).10.1021/acsmacrolett.7b00104 ↗
31. Okajima, M. K., Miyazato, S. & Kaneko, T. Cyanobacterial megamolecule sacran efficiently forms LC gels with very heavy metal ions. Langmuir25, 8526–8531 (2009).10.1021/la8036956 ↗
32. Okajima, M. K. et al. Supergiant ampholytic sugar chains with imbalanced charge ratio form saline ultra-absorbent hydrogels. Macromolecules 41, 4061–4064 (2008).10.1021/ma800307w ↗
33. Fujishiro, T. et al. Establishment of a pure culture of the hitherto uncultured unicellular cyanobacterium Aphanothece sacrum, and phylogenetic position of the organism. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70, 3338–3345 (2004).10.1128/AEM.70.6.3338-3345.2004 ↗
34. Okajima, M. K., Sornkamnerd, S. & Kaneko, T. Development of functional bionanocomposites using cyanobacterial polysaccharides. Chem. Rec.18, 1167–1177 (2018).10.1002/tcr.201700074 ↗
35. Okeyoshi, K., Okajima, M. K. & Kaneko, T. The cyanobacterial polysaccharide sacran: characteristics, structures, and preparation of LC gels. Polym. J. 53, 81–91 (2021).10.1038/s41428-020-00426-2 ↗
36. Wathoni, N. et al. Sacran hydrogel film containing keratinocyte growth factor accelerates wound healing by stimulating fibroblast migration and re-epithelization. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 67, 849–854 (2019).10.1248/cpb.c19-00291 ↗
37. Supachettapun, C. et al. Cyanobacterial ampholyte hydrogels developed by the cationization of sulfated polysaccharides and their cell-compatibility. Biomacromolecules 25, 5995–6006 (2024).10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00656 ↗
38. Singh, M. et al. Enhancing gelatine hydrogel robustness with Sacran-aldehyde: a natural cross-linker approach. Polysaccharides 5, 320–331 (2024).10.3390/polysaccharides5030021 ↗
39. Puluhulawa, L. E., Joni, I. M., Mohammed, A. F. A., Arima, H. & Wathoni, N. The use of megamolecular polysaccharide Sacran in food and biomedical applications. Molecules 26, 3362 (2021).10.3390/molecules26113362 ↗
40. Sornkamnerd, S., Okajima, M. K., Matsumura, K. & Kaneko, T. Micropatterned cell orientation of cyanobacterial liquid-crystalline hydrogels. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 10, 44834–44843 (2018).10.1021/acsami.8b15825 ↗
41. Singh, M., Joshi, G., Qiang, H., Okajima, M. K. & Kaneko, T. Facile design of antibacterial sheets of sacran and nanocellulose. Carbohydr. Polym. Technol. Appl. 5, 100280 (2023).
42. Takada, K. et al. Cell-adhesive gels made of sacran/collagen complexes. Polym. J. 54, 581–589 (2022).10.1038/s41428-021-00593-w ↗
43. Okajima, M. K. et al. Anionic complexes of MWCNT with supergiant cyanobacterial polyanions. Biopolymers 99, 1–9 (2013).10.1002/bip.22129 ↗
44. Budpud, K., Okeyoshi, K., Kobayashi, S., Okajima, M. K. & Kaneko, T. Super-moisturizing materials from morphological deformation of suprapolysaccharides. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 43, e2200163 (2022).10.1002/marc.202200163 ↗
45. Yang, Y., Deng, H. & Fu, Q. Recent progress on PEDOT:PSS based polymer blends and composites for flexible electronics and thermoelectric devices. Mater. Chem. Front. 4, 3130–3152 (2020).10.1039/D0QM00308E ↗
46. Zhang, X., Yang, W., Zhang, H., Xie, M. & Duan, X. PEDOT:PSS: from conductive polymers to sensors. Nanotechnol. Precis. Eng. 4, https://doi.org/10.1063/10.0006866 (2021).10.1063/10.0006866 ↗
47. Ajjan, F. N. et al. High performance PEDOT/lignin biopolymer composites for electrochemical supercapacitors. J. Mater. Chem. A 4, 1838–1847 (2016).10.1039/C5TA10096H ↗
48. Håkansson, A. et al. Effect of (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GOPS) on the electrical properties of PEDOT:PSS films. J. Polym. Sci. B Polym. Phys. 55, 814–820 (2017).10.1002/polb.24331 ↗
49. Gebremichael, Z. T. et al. How varying surface wettability of different PEDOT:PSS formulations and their mixtures affects perovskite crystallization and the efficiency of inverted perovskite solar cells. RSC Adv. 12, 25593–25604 (2022).10.1039/D2RA03843A ↗
50. Li, L. et al. Structure and properties of hybrid film fabricated by spin-assisted layer-by-layer assembly of sacran and imogolite nanotubes. Langmuir36, 1718–1726 (2020).10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b03626 ↗
51. Kaneko, T. & Okajima, M. K. Super liquid crystalline polysaccharides produced by ultimately-ecological microreactors. Yakugaku Zasshi J. Pharm. Soc. Jpn. 138, 489–496 (2018).10.1248/yakushi.17-00201-1 ↗
52. Zarrin, N., Tavanai, H., Abdolmaleki, A., Bazarganipour, M. & Alihosseini, F. An investigation on the fabrication of conductive polyethylene dioxythiophene (PEDOT) nanofibers through electrospinning. Synth. Met. 244, 143–149 (2018).10.1016/j.synthmet.2018.07.013 ↗
53. Kvarnström, C., Neugebauer, H., Ivaska, A. & Sariciftci, N. Vibrational signatures of electrochemical p- and n-doping of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) films: an in situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) study. J. Mol. Struct. 521, 271–277 (2000).10.1016/S0022-2860(99)00442-1 ↗
54. Hwang, J., Tanner, D. B., Schwendeman, I. & Reynolds, J. R. Optical properties of nondegenerate ground-state polymers: three dioxythiophene-based conjugated polymers. Phys. Rev. B 67, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.67.115205 (2003).10.1103/PhysRevB.67.115205 ↗
55. Jönsson, S. K. M. et al. Phenyl-capped EDOT trimer: its chemical and electronic structure and its interface with aluminum. J. Phys. Chem. B 107, 10793–10800 (2003).10.1021/jp034249p ↗
56. Greczynski, G., Kugler, T. & Salaneck, W. Characterization of the PEDOT-PSS system by means of X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. Thin Solid Films 354, 129–135 (1999).10.1016/S0040-6090(99)00422-8 ↗
57. Wang, M., Zhou, M., Zhu, L., Li, Q. & Jiang, C. Enhanced polymer solar cells efficiency by surface coating of the PEDOT: PSS with polar solvent. Sol. Energy 129, 175–183 (2016).10.1016/j.solener.2016.02.003 ↗
58. Carter, J. L., Kelly, C. A. & Jenkins, M. J. Processing optimization of PEDOT:PSS and PEDOT:PSS/Tween 80 films. Polym. J. 55, 253–260 (2023).10.1038/s41428-022-00740-x ↗
59. Anand, A. et al. Why organic electronic devices comprising PEDOT:PSS electrodes should be fabricated on metal free substrates. ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 3, 929–943 (2021).10.1021/acsaelm.0c01043 ↗
60. Zohuriaan, M. & Shokrolahi, F. Thermal studies on natural and modified gums. Polym. Test. 23, 575–579 (2004).10.1016/j.polymertesting.2003.11.001 ↗
61. Ohayon, D., Druet, V. & Inal, S. A guide for the characterization of organic electrochemical transistors and channel materials. Chem. Soc. Rev. 52, 1001–1023 (2023).10.1039/D2CS00920J ↗
62. Bernards, D. A. & Malliaras, G. G. Steady-state and transient behavior of organic electrochemical transistors. Adv. Funct. Mater. 17, 3538–3544 (2007).10.1002/adfm.200601239 ↗
63. Liao, C., Mak, C., Zhang, M., Chan, H. L. W. & Yan, F. Flexible organic electrochemical transistors for highly selective enzyme biosensors and used for saliva testing. Adv. Mater.27, 676–681 (2015).10.1002/adma.201404378 ↗
64. Park, S. et al. Self-powered ultra-flexible electronics via nano-grating-patterned organic photovoltaics. Nature 561, 516–521 (2018).10.1038/s41586-018-0536-x ↗
65. Sun, B. et al. Development of screen-printed biodegradable flexible organic electrochemical transistors enabled by poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate and a solid-state chitosan polymer electrolyte. ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 6, 2336–2348 (2024).10.1021/acsaelm.3c01823 ↗
66. Savva, A. et al. Influence of water on the performance of organic electrochemical transistors. Chem. Mater. 31, 927–937 (2019).10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b04335 ↗
67. Hegyesi, N. et al. Enzymatic degradation of PLA/cellulose nanocrystal composites. Ind. Crops Prod. 141, 111799 (2019).10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.111799 ↗
68. Ngatu, N. R. et al. Anti-inflammatory effects of sacran, a novel polysaccharide from Aphanothece sacrum, on 2,4,6-trinitrochlorobenzene-induced allergic dermatitis in vivo. Ann. Allergy Asthma Immunol. 108, 117–122 (2012).10.1016/j.anai.2011.10.013 ↗