Controlled insulator-to-metal transformation in printable polymer composites with nanometal clusters
Source abstract
Abstract
Although organic semiconductors have received the most attention, the development of compatible passive elements, such as interconnects and electrodes, is also central to plastic electronics. For this, ligand-protected metal-cluster films have been shown to anneal at low temperatures below 250 degrees C to highly conductive metal films, but they suffer from cracking and inadequate substrate adhesion. Here, we report printable metal-cluster-polymer nanocomposites that anneal to a controlled-percolation nanostructure without complete sintering of the metal clusters. This overcomes the previous challenges while still retaining the desired low transformation temperatures. Highly water- and alcohol-soluble gold clusters (75 mg ml-1) were synthesized and homogeneously dispersed into poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) to give a material with annealed d.c. conductivity tuneable between 10(-4) and 10(5) S cm-1. These composites can inject holes efficiently into all-printed polymer organic transistors. The insulator-metal transformation can also be electrically induced at 1 MV cm-1, suggesting possible memory applications.
Source: europepmc · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Nanocluster Synthesis and Applications · Gold and Silver Nanoparticles Synthesis and Applications · Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (34)
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