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Biocompatible and Biodegradable Materials for Organic
Field-Effect Transistors
By Mihai Irimia-Vladu,* Pavel A. Troshin, Melanie Reisinger, Lyuba Shmygleva,
Yasin Kanbur, Günther Schwabegger, Marius Bodea, Reinhard Schwödiauer,
Alexander Mumyatov, Jeffrey W. Fergus, Vladimir F. Razumov, Helmut Sitter,
Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci, and Siegfried Bauer
Biocompatible-ingestible electronic circuits and capsules for medical diag-
nosis and monitoring are currently based on traditional silicon technology.
Organic electronics has huge potential for developing biodegradable, biocom-
patible, bioresorbable, or even metabolizable products. An ideal pathway for
such electronic devices involves fabrication with materials from nature, or
materials found in common commodity products. Transistors with an opera-
tional voltage as low as 4–5 V, a source drain current of up to 0.5 μA and an
on-off ratio of 3–5 orders of magnitude have been fabricated with such mate-
rials. This work comprises steps towards environmentally safe devices in low-
cost, large volume, disposable or throwaway electronic applications, such as
in food packaging, plastic bags, and disposable dishware. In addition, there is
significant potential to use such electronic items in biomedical implants.
1. Introduction
Plastic waste is a huge concern in the world. Plastics consump-
tion is expected to increase by a factor of two to three in a few
years, particularly due to the growth in developing countries.[1]
As an example, household hazardous waste in the UK alone
reaches 437 000 tons per year, 47.5% of which is electronic prod-
ucts and plastics.[2] With increased use of plastic electronics in
low-cost, large volume, disposable or throwaway applications,
plastic waste problems may increase dramatically over the
already forecasted enormous increase. Therefore minimizing
[*] Dr. M. Irimia-Vladu, M. Reisinger, Dr. R. Schwödiauer, Prof. S. Bauer
Department of Soft Matter Physics
Johannes Kepler University
Altenberger Strasse Nr. 69, 4040 Linz (Austria)
E-mail: Mihai.Irimia-Vladu@jku.at
Dr. P. A. Troshin, L. Shmygleva, A. Mumyatov, Prof. V. F. Razumov
Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics of Russian
Academy of Sciences
Semenov prospect 1, 142432, Chernogolovka
Moscow Region (Russian Federation)
Y. Kanbur
Department of Polymer Science and Technology
Middle East Technical University
Balgat, Ankara, 06531 (Turkey)
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201001031
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FULL PAPER
the negative impact of the increasing pro-
duction, consumption and disposal of both
polymer materials and electronic circuits is a
crucial goal in reaching environmental pro-
tection and sustainability. Here we describe
a first approach for such environmentally
friendly electronics, based on natural mate-
rials, nature-inspired materials or materials
familiar to the public. We limit our work
to the demonstration of field-effect transis-
tors, which are the building blocks of more
complex integrated circuits. Key to the suc-
cessful demonstration of high-performance,
biocompatible and biodegradable organic
field-effect transistors operating at low volt-
ages is the evaporation of ultrathin layers of
natural organic dielectrics, such as adenine,
guanine or glucose on inorganic oxide dielectrics, a viable alter-
native to the passivation of such oxide dielectrics with self assem-
bled monolayers.[3]
2. Results and Discussion
Biocompatible electronic circuits and capsules based on tradi-
tional silicon technology have been reported recently in medical
diagnosis and drug delivery.[4,5] Organic electronics also has
potential to develop similar products, finally leading to an even
M. Bodea
Institute of Applied Physics
Johannes Kepler University
Altenberger Strasse Nr. 69, 4040 Linz (Austria)
G. Schwabegger, Prof. H. Sitter
Institute of Semiconductor and Solid State Physics
Johannes Kepler University
Altenberger Strasse Nr. 69, 4040 Linz (Austria)
Prof. J. W. Fergus
Materials Research and Education Center
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849 (USA)
Dr. M. Irimia-Vladu, Prof. N. S. Sariciftci
Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells (LIOS)
Physical Chemistry
Johannes Kepler University
Altenberger Strasse Nr. 69
4040 Linz (Austria)
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more ambitious goal: environmentally friendly, biodegradable
electronics.[6] Industrial interest for the fabrication of such elec-
tronics will only be raised with the availability and amenability
of large-scale roll-to-roll production processes. Avenues toward
large-scale industrial roll-to-roll (R2R) fabrication comprise
solution-based large-area printing processes, possible with our
solution processed materials from solvents like deionized water,
ethyl alcohol, DMSO, hexane, etc. On the other hand, vacuum-
based thermal evaporation R2R processes are often used in food
industry, like for example in the metallization of polymer foils
for food packaging. Therefore, using R2R thermal evaporation
as a technology for the mass production of biocompatible/bio-
degradable electronics based on organic dielectrics and small-
molecule active materials may represent an alternative route to
solution-processed large-area printing.
Science and engineering are often inspired by nature. Beau-
tiful examples in materials research are the mimicking of
dirt-repelling lotus leafs, or adhesives following strategies of
Gecko’s footpads, so inspiration by nature may also be used as
a guideline for the development of environmentally friendly
electronics.[7,8] First steps towards biodegradable electronics
have been reported, with a field-effect transistor based on poly-
vinyl alcohol as gate dielectric, 5,5’-bis-(7-dodecyl-9H-fluoren-2-
yl)-2,2’-bithiophene (DDFTTF) as organic semiconductor and
poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) as degradable substrate.[9]
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has recently been shown to be an
exciting material for photonics and electronics in, for instance,
optical waveguides and as gate dielectric in organic field-effect
transistors and memory elements.[10,11] These initial studies on
bio-electronics are significantly extended here by developing
transistors with the list of natural, nature inspired or common
commodity materials displayed in Figure 1 to form organic
field-effect transistors. The list of materials selected in Figure 1
is of course, by no means comprehensive, it just illustrates
the enormous potential such materials may have in electronic
product development. The transistors are fabricated on a degra-
dable substrate, which is often coated with a smoothing layer
to reduce the surface roughness of the material. Metal con-
tacts form the gate, source and drain electrodes, while dielec-
trics are needed as gate insulator, and semiconductors for the
gate-controlled charge transport between the source and drain
electrodes.
Substrates made of caramelized glucose, edible hard gelatine
and commercially available plastics based on potato and corn
starch provide examples for metabolizable or biodegradable
substrates.[12] Smoothing is efficiently achieved by rosolic acid,
also known as aurin, a well known organic compound with a
simple fabrication route.[13] Aurin is currently investigated in
the medical and pharmacological fields as heme-oxygenase
activity regulator in aortic endothelial cells or as a generator
of androgen receptors in binding assays that mimic the func-
tions of natural hormones and has been extracted also from the

Figure 1. Natural materials or materials inspired by nature and their use in organic field effect transistors. Ecoflex made from potato and corn starch,
hard gelatine capsule produced from collagen or caramelized glucose form the substrate; aurin originating from Plantago Asiatica L. acts as smoothing
layer; glucose, sucrose, lactose, adenine and guanine are few examples of natural dielectrics with good insulating properties; beta carotene and indigo
are natural p- and n-type organic semiconductors; indanthrene yellow G and indanthrene brilliant orange RF are semiconductors inspired by nature
and perylene diimide, a cosmetic color. Transistors and integrated circuits from natural or nature-inspired materials may ultimately provide the basis
for “green electronics.”

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free-growing plant, Plantago Asiatica L.[14,15] Dielectrics may be semiconductors is their intrinsic low mobility (∼4 × 10−4 cm2

chosen among naturally occurring nucleobases, such as ade-
nine and guanine, as well as various sugars (glucose, lactose,
sucrose) or even caffeine.[16,17] These dielectric materials have
a long history in biochemistry.[18,19] Glucose, adenine, and gua-
nine are excellent dielectrics, with low dielectric losses (10−2 at
10 mHz for adenine and guanine; 10−1 at 10 mHz for glucose)
and high breakdown strengths (between 1.5 to 3.5 MV cm−1
respectively, as shown in the Supporting Information,
Figure S1a,b and Figure S2a). A brief demonstration of caffeine
as a stand-alone dielectric is presented in Figure S2b and confir-
mations that the evaporation phases of adenine and glucose are
identical with their precursors are shown in Figure S3, S4 and S5
in the Supporting Information. Semiconductors employed
are indanthrene yellow G (vat yellow 1), indanthrene brilliant
orange RF (vat orange 3), and perylene diimide. The indan-
threne dyes are derived from natural anthraquinone[20], are
slowly biodegradable[21] and found applications as colors in tex-
tile[22], electronics[23] and food industry.[24,25] Perylene diimide,
a dye, which is extensively employed in cosmetics[26] and has
a remarkably high tolerance of more than 8000 mg kg−1 (from
in vivo mouse tests in our laboratories), is also demonstrated.
Other potential semiconductor candidates for the production
of fully natural organic field effect transistors are p-type beta-
carotene and n-type indigo (see the Supporting Information
Figure S6 and S7). The current limitation of natural organic
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V−1 s−1 for beta-carotene and ∼2 × 10−4 cm2 V−1 s−1 for indigo,
both values obtained from the devices fabricated here).[27] Con-
tinued searching for new natural compounds and improved
processing (careful cleaning of available materials and opti-
mization of deposition processes) may reveal much higher
mobility semiconductors, as observed by the current progress
in synthetic high mobility organic semiconductors.[28]
In the quest for expanding the materials base, inspiration
from nature is an excellent guide for identifying new promising
low cost semiconductors that are biodegradable and have very
low toxicity. Examples include indanthrene yellow G and indan-
threne brilliant orange RF, which are derived from natural
anthraquinone, a laxative drug extensively discussed in interna-
tional symposia.[29]
Indanthrene yellow G and indanthrene brilliant orange
RF are both amenable for vacuum processing, which is com-
monly used in packaging and in the roll-to-roll processing of
transistors.[30,31] The field effect mobility of OFETs with vacuum
processed n-type indanthrene yellow G deposited on top of
alternating layers of vacuum processed guanine and adenine
is ∼0.012 cm2 V−1 s−1, as measured in the devices displayed in
Figure 2a,b, which have a gate capacitance per unit area, C0d =
5.6 nF cm−2. The field effect mobility is calculated as described
in Ref.[32]. The transistors in Figure 2a and 2b were fabri-
cated on caramelized glucose substrates, which allows for the

Figure 2. a,b) Transfer and output characteristics of biocompatible and biodegradable OFETs on caramelized glucose substrates; Four alternating layers
of guanine and adenine form the gate dielectric, indanthrene yellow G is the organic semiconductor. The field effect mobility is μ = 0.012 cm2 V−1 s−1;
and the gate capacitance per area C0d = 5.6 nF cm−2; c,d) Transfer and output characteristics of an OFET with an inorganic (aluminum oxide)-organic
(six layers of adenine and guanine) gate dielectric and indanthrene yellow G organic semiconductor; the field effect mobility is μ = 0.015 cm2 V−1 s−1;
and the gate capacitance per area is C0d = 23.4 nF cm−2.

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Since caramelized glucose is a highly

unusual substrate material, we have also
investigated the use of commercially avail-
able bio-degradable plastic substrates in
the production of degradable transistors.
Ecoflex (BASF) is a commercially available,
compostable polymer based on potato and
corn starch. Its rough surface (rms ∼80 nm,
Figure 4a and Figure S8) requires the addi-
tion of a smoothing layer formed by spin-
coating for example rosolic acid (aurin) from
ethyl-alcohol. The roughness measured on
top of the adenine layer on the evaporated
Figure 3. a,b) Transfer and output characteristics of an OFET with an inorganic (aluminum aluminium gate electrode is rms ∼17 nm
oxide)-organic (two layers of adenine and guanine) gate dielectric and indanthrene brilliant (reduced from rms ∼55 nm) after spin
orange RF organic semiconductor; the field effect mobility is μ = 1.75 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1; and
the gate capacitance per area C0d = 81.6 nF cm−2.
coating aurin on Ecoflex (Figure 4c and 4e).
In fact, the simple use of a smoothening
layer of aurin reduces the roughness of
production of biocompatible and fully biode-
gradable OFETs as required when electronic
products are intended to be used for example
in food packaging, or any other low-end dis-
posable or throw away application. Although
the structure was not fully optimized, a 102
on-off ratio was achieved. The calculated
amount of organic materials deposited on
the caramelized glucose was: 10.2 μg aurin,
1.4 μg guanine, 3.6 μg adenine and 0.65 μg
indanthrene yellow G. The amount of purines
(adenine and guanine) that are present in the
respective OFET for example, are at least 3
orders of magnitude lower than the level nor-
mally found in various edible food items.[33]
Higher transistor performances are pos-
sible when very thin layers of organic dielec-
trics are evaporated on top of anodized alu-
minium gates[34] (Figure 2c,d). The on-current
achieved is 0.5 μA with a 103 on-off ratio,
and ∼0.015 cm2 V−1 s−1 field effect mobility of
the organic semiconductor for a capacitance
per unit area, C0d, of 23.4 nF cm−2 of the
inorganic-organic dielectric.
Results for a transistor with indanthrene
brilliant orange RF as organic semicon-
ductor and a gate dielectric of anodized alu-
minium with two thin layers of guanine and
adenine are presented in Figure 3a,b. The
capacitance per unit area of the combination
inorganic-organic dielectric is 81.6 nF cm−2
and the calculated field effect mobility of
the indanthrene brilliant orange RF organic
semiconductor is ∼1.75 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1
for an OFET with an operation voltage as low
as 7–8 V. The field effect mobilities of the
two widely employed vat dyes (indanthrene
Figure 4. AFM pictograms of a)-plain Ecoflex foil (rms ∼80 nm); b)-aluminium gate on Ecoflex
yellow G and indanthrene brilliant orange (rms ∼50 nm); c)-adenine on top of the aluminium gate on Ecoflex (rms ∼55 nm); d)-perylene
RF) are on par with the ones recently diimide on top of the adenine dielectric; e)-adenine on top of the aluminium gate on an aurin
reported for synthetic high mobility ambi- coated Ecoflex foil (rms ∼17 nm); f)-adenine on top of an aluminium gate on plain glass
polar polyselenophene.[35] (rms ∼14 nm).

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adenine to those obtained on samples built on glass (rms ∼14 nm,

Figure 4f).
Figure 5a,b shows that an OFET built on an aurin-coated
Ecoflex foil has an operating voltage as low as 15 V. The organic
layers are vacuum processed adenine as gate dielectric and
perylene diimide as semiconductor. Perylene diimide, which is
the chromophore in the commercial nail polish color displayed
in the inserted photographs in Figure 5 and Figure S8, has a
field effect mobility of 0.01 cm2 V−1 s−1 for a capacitance per
unit area of 3.1 nF cm−2 of the adenine dielectric. Lower oper-
ating voltages (i.e. 4–5 V) are feasible when ultra-thin layers of
organic dielectrics (0.25 nm glucose) are vacuum deposited on
a thin inorganic (i.e., aluminium oxide) dielectric (Figure 5c,d).
The field effect mobility for perylene diimide in an OFET
having the above structure is 0.01 cm2 V−1 s−1 for a capacitance
per unit area of 138.8 nF cm−2 of the inorganic-organic dielec-
tric. For comparison, the capacitance per unit area of our plain
anodized aluminium oxide gate electrode is 140 nF cm−2. Alter-
natively, thin layers of adenine and guanine (i.e. 2.5 nm gua-
nine and 15 nm adenine) were vacuum evaporated on the inor-
ganic dielectric layer (aluminium oxide) and perylene diimide
was employed as organic semiconductor. The operating voltage
of an OFET in such a configuration is only 5–6 V and the field
effect mobility is ∼0.016 cm2 V−1 s−1 for a capacitance per unit
area of 81.6 nF cm−2 of the gate dielectric (Figure S9a,b).
Hard gelatine capsule is a fully edible substrate used exten-
sively in pharmaceutical industry as a case for oral drug
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administration. Figure 6a,b demonstrates an edible OFET built
on an aurin coated gelatine capsule substrate with an operating
voltage of 20 V and an on-off ratio of ∼105. The gate dielec-
tric is formed from layers of vacuum processed guanine and
adenine, perylene diimide is the organic semiconductor, and
gold is used as gate, source and drain electrodes. Gold is an
edible substance that can leave the human body unaltered; it
is accepted in food industry as a color and additive to various
food items with the E 175 number assigned in the food produc-
tion nomenclature. Adenine and guanine are commonly found
in various food items and perylene diimide is a cosmetic color
with market applications in lip sticks and nail polish.[26,33] The
field effect mobility of perylene diimide in the device displayed
in Figure 6 is 0.02 cm2 V−1 s−1, and the gate capacitance per
unit area is 5.1 nF cm−2.
A summary of material parameters, including dielectric con-
stant, loss, dielectric breakdown field for the dielectrics, and
field-effect mobility for the semiconductors are presented in
Table 1 together with commonly used materials in organic elec-
tronic devices.
3. Conclusion
Nature provides an overwhelming diversity of materials, so
looking for natural dielectrics, natural or nature-inspired
semiconductors appears to be a promising route for fabrication

Figure 5. a,b) Transfer and output characteristics of an OFET on a biodegradable Ecoflex substrate; the roughness of the Ecoflex foil is reduced with
a smoothing layer of aurin. The transfer curve displays the temporal stability of the transistor characteristics after 1000 continuous scan cycles in
12 hours; Adenine forms the dielectric and perylene diimide is the semiconductor; μ = 0.01 cm2 V−1 s−1; C0d = 3.1 nF cm−2; c,d) Transfer and output
characteristics of an OFET with an inorganic (aluminium oxide)-organic (0.25 nm evaporated glucose) gate dielectric and perylene diimide as organic
semiconductor; μ = 0.01 cm2 V−1 s−1; C0d = 138.8 nF cm−2.

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already compare favorably with such mate-

rials, like PVA and BCB. More difficult to
identify are natural and nature inspired
organic semiconductors; they should display
sufficiently large mobilities, together with
stability against environmental influences,
such as temperature and humidity varia-
tions, resistance against oxidation, etc. The
mobilities found in vat yellow 1 are quite
encouraging, so there is a large chance that
more or even better organic semiconductors
within the anthraquinone vat dyes may be
found. Work in these directions provides nat-
Figure 6. a,b) Transfer and output characteristics of an edible OFET on a hard gelatine capsule ural steps for further research. Additionally
substrate; the roughness of the substrate foil is reduced with a smoothing layer of aurin. Ade- extensive biocompatibility studies (including
nine and guanine form the gate dielectric and perylene diimide is the organic semiconductor; inflammation tests) should be performed
μ = 0.02 cm2 V−1 s−1; C0d = 5.1 nF cm−2. on biodegradable (compatible) circuits, such
as inverters, ring oscillators and memory
elements, to prove the feasibility of a nature based organic
of fully biodegradable and biocompatible organic electronics. electronics.
Dielectrics in the nucleobase or sugar families, naturally occur- Although we have illustrated here many examples of OFETs
ring semiconductors like indigo or various carotenoid polyenes, from natural, nature-inspired or daily life materials, the devel-
as well as semiconductors derived from natural compounds oped technology is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, such transis-
(like for example many yet unexplored anthraquinone vat dyes) tors may ultimately form the basis for “green” electronic items,
share their natural abundance, their large scale use in various being largely based on solvent-free evaporation processes, or
fields of applications, their low cost and their low toxicity to on solution processing from solvents such as deionized water,
make them interesting for sustainable organic electronics. Ide- ethyl alcohol, DMSO, hexane, etc. Just imagine enjoying your
ally, the dielectrics display excellent insulating properties, with continental breakfast, while reading your electronic newspaper
a high dielectric breakdown field, comparable to commonly made from many of the same materials you have on your break-
employed dielectrics. In this respect, our chosen dielectrics fast table.

Table 1. Electrical properties of investigated materials.

Dielectrics Semiconductors

Material Dielectric Constant (at 1 kHz) Breakdown Field [MV cm−1] Loss Tangent (at 100 mHz) Material Mobility [cm2 V−1 s−1]

Adenine ∼3.85 ∼1.5 ∼4 × 10−3 Vat Yellow 1 0.012–0.015

Guanine ∼4.35 ∼3.5 ∼7 × 10−3 Vat Orange 3 1.75 × 10−3

Glucose ∼6.35 ∼1.5 ∼5 × 10−2 Perylene Diimide 0.01–0.02

Lactose ∼6.55 ∼4.5 ∼2 × 10−2 Indigo 2 × 10−4

Sucrose N/A >3 ∼8 × 10−2 β-carotene 4 × 10−4

Caffeine ∼4.1 ∼2 ∼9 × 10−2 C60 (regular)[30,31] 0.1–0.55

xPVA[9] ∼6.7 ∼1.5–2 N/A C60 (hot wall epitaxial)[37] 6

nPVA[9] ∼7.6 ∼1.5–2 N/A Pentacene[32] >1

μh ∼ 0.02–0.3
PVA[36] ∼6.1 ∼1.5–2 ∼4 × 10−2[36] Polyselenophene[35]
μe ∼ 0.004–0.03

BCB ∼2.65 ∼3–5 N/A DDFTTF[9] 0.018–0.2

SiO2 ∼3.9 ∼5–15 N/A β-carotene[27] 10−6−10−7

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4. Experimental Section
Preparation and/or Purification of Materials: Commercially available
(Sigma-Aldrich) dielectric and semiconductor compounds employed
(adenine, guanine, caffeine, indigo, indanthrene yellow G) as well as
indanthrene brilliant orange RF (Shanghai Jucheng Chemical Co.) were
additionally purified by two vacuum sublimation cycles performed in a
closed quartz tube. The chemical composition of indanthrene brilliant
orange RF was proven by mass spectrometry. D-(+)-glucose, lactose,
sucrose and beta-carotene were used as received, without further
purification. Ecoflex was purchased from BASF and hard gelatine
capsules from a local pharmacy.
Glucose/Caffeine-Beta-Carotene OFET on Glass: A precursor solution
of D-(+)-glucose (0.9 g mL−1) and caffeine (0.02 g mL−1) was prepared
in deionised water (∼18 MΩ × cm) and the solution was stirred for
60 minutes on top of a hot plate at 60 °C. Beta-carotene was stored in
a glove box under nitrogen, and stock solutions were prepared under
inert atmosphere (10 mg mL−1 in chloroform). Thin films of glucose
and caffeine were deposited by spin-coating at 2000 rpm on top of a
100 nm thick patterned aluminium gate on a glass substrate (1.5 × 1.5 cm).
Samples were dried overnight in a vacuum oven at 55 °C. Beta-carotene
was spin coated at 2000 rpm for 60 s with a spin coater inside the
glove box. After semiconductor deposition, samples were placed in a
metal evaporator and 100 nm gold was evaporated through a shadow
mask to pattern the top source and drain electrodes. The source and
drain electrodes had channel dimensions of L = 100 μm, and W =
1 mm. The measured capacitance per unit area of a 3.1 μm thick dielectric
film of glucose and caffeine was C0d = 1.9 nF cm−2. The measured
capacitance per unit area of a 2.6 μm thick film cast from glucose solution
(0.9 g mL−1 in deionized water) was 2.15 nF cm−2.
Adenine/Guanine-Indanthrene Yellow G OFET on Caramelized
Glucose: As received powder of D-(+)-glucose was melted on top of a
hot plate at ∼225 °C and droplets were deposited with a glass rod on
aluminium foil wrapped around 1.5 × 1.5 cm glass slides. Wrapping
aluminium around the glass slides helped preventing the solidified
glucose from cracking during cooling. The melt was cooled slowly to
room temperature and a thin layer of rosolic acid (50 nm) was vacuum
evaporated in order to prevent the caramelized glucose substrate to
swollen during the aluminium gate electrode patterning. The slides
were transferred to a metal evaporator in a glove box where 100 nm
thick, 1 mm wide aluminium gate electrodes were evaporated. The gate
dielectric was formed by four alternating layers of guanine and adenine
(75 nm thick each of the first three layers of guanine and adenine,
and 400 nm thick adenine-the fourth layer), while 100 nm indanthrene
yellow G was used as organic semiconductor. Adenine was evaporated
at a rate of 3 nm s−1, whereas guanine and indanthrene yellow G at a
rate of 0.1 nm s−1. 100 nm top source and drain aluminium electrodes
were evaporated in glove box. The source and drain electrodes had the
channel dimensions: L = 100 μm, W = 1 mm. The measured capacitance
per unit area of the dielectric was C0d = 5.6 nF cm−2.
Aluminium Oxide-Adenine/Guanine-Indanthrene Yellow G OFET on
Glass: A 1 mm wide, 100 nm thick aluminium gate was evaporated onto
1.5 × 1.5 cm2 glass slides and subsequently anodized by immersing
in citric acid solution and passing a step voltage (up to a maximum
of 40 V) at a constant current of 0.06 mA. A transmission electron
microscopy (TEM) picture of a cross-section of the anodized electrode
revealed a thickness of ∼55 nm of aluminium oxide. Six alternating
layers of guanine and adenine (i.e., 7.5 nm thick each guanine layer,
10 nm thick the second and the fourth adenine layer and 75 nm thick
the last adenine layer) were vacuum deposited, followed by 100 nm
thick indanthrene yellow G and 100 nm aluminium source and drain
electrodes. Adenine was evaporated at a rate of 3 nm s−1, guanine at
0.75 nm s−1 and indanthrene yellow G at a rate of 0.1 nm s−1. The source
and drain electrodes had the channel dimensions: L = 100 μm, W = 1 mm.
The measured capacitance per unit area of the dielectric was C0d =
23.4 nF cm−2.
Adenine-Perylene Diimide OFET on Ecoflex: Transistor fabrication
on Ecoflex starts with spin coating of rosolic acid (0.1 g mL−1 in pure
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ethyl-alcohol) at 2000 rpm for 60 s on 1.5 × 1.5 cm2 Ecoflex foils. A
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1 mm wide, 100 nm thick aluminium gate was evaporated through a
shadow mask. 1.1 μm adenine was evaporated in an EDWARDS High
Vacuum evaporation system to form the gate dielectric; 100 nm thick
perylene diimide semiconductor was evaporated. The sample holder was
placed 15 cm above the crucibles and evaporation was performed at a
pressure of 10−6 torr. 100 nm thick aluminium formed the top drain and
source electrodes. The evaporation rate was 3 nm s−1 for adenine, and
0.1 nm s−1 for perylene diimide. The source and drain electrodes had the
channel dimensions: L = 100 μm, W = 1 mm. The measured capacitance
per unit area of the dielectric was C0d = 3.1 nF cm−2.
Aluminium Oxide-Adenine/Guanine-Perylene Diimide OFET on Glass:
A 1 mm wide, 100 nm thick aluminium gate was evaporated onto
1.5 × 1.5 cm2 glass slides and subsequently anodized by immersing in citric
acid solution and passing a step voltage (up to a maximum of 40 V)
at a constant current of 0.06 mA. Two alternating layers of guanine
and adenine (i.e., 2.5 nm thick guanine and 15 nm thick adenine) were
vacuum deposited; followed by 100 nm thick perylene diimide and
100 nm aluminium source and drain electrodes. Adenine was evaporated
at a rate of 3 nm s−1, guanine at 0.75 nm s−1 and perylene diimide at
a rate of 0.1 nm s−1. The source and drain electrodes had the channel
dimensions: L = 100 μm, W = 1 mm. The measured capacitance per unit
area of the dielectric was C0d = 81.6 nF cm−2. The measured capacitance
per unit area of the AlOx alone was 140 nF cm−2.
Aluminium Oxide-Adenine/Guanine-Indanthrene Brilliant Orange
RF OFET on Glass: A 1 mm wide, 100 nm thick aluminium gate was
evaporated onto 1.5 × 1.5 cm2 glass slides and subsequently anodized
by immersing in citric acid solution, using the method described. Two
alternating layers of guanine and adenine (i.e., 2.5 nm thick guanine
and 15 nm thick adenine) were vacuum deposited; followed by 100 nm
thick indanthrene brilliant orange RF and 100 nm gold source and drain
electrodes. The source and drain electrodes had the channel dimensions:
L = 35 μm, W = 7 mm. In the particular case of indanthrene brilliant
orange RF, gold was preferred instead of aluminium for contacting the
n-type semiconductor. Adenine was evaporated at a rate of 3 nm s−1,
guanine at 0.75 nm s−1 and indanthrene brilliant orange RF at a rate of
0.1 nm s−1. The measured capacitance per unit area of the dielectric was
C0d = 81.6 nF cm−2.
Aluminium Oxide-Evaporated Glucose-Perylene Diimide OFET on
Glass: A 1 mm wide, 100 nm thick aluminium gate was evaporated onto
1.5 × 1.5 cm2 glass slides and subsequently anodized by immersing in
citric acid solution and passing a step voltage (up to a maximum of
40 V) at a constant current of 0.06 mA. 0.25 nm glucose was vacuum
processed on the top of the inorganic layer and 100 nm perylene diimide
subsequently deposited by vacuum processing. 100 nm aluminium
patterned the source and drain electrodes (L = 100 μm, W = 1 mm).
The measured capacitance per unit area of the dielectric (AlOx +
0.25 nm of evaporated glucose) was C0d = 138.8 nF cm−2. The measured
capacitance per unit area of the AlOx alone was 140 nF cm−2. The
glucose was evaporated at a rate of ∼0.02 nm s−1, typically in ∼15 s.
Adenine/Guanine-Perylene Diimide OFET on Hard Gelatine
Capsules: Hard gelatine capsules were cut open and stuck with the aid of a
double-side scotch tape on 1.5 × 1.5 cm2 glass substrates in order to force
the gelatine substrate remain in a flat-open position. Transistor fabrication
on hard gelatine capsule starts with spin coating of rosolic acid (0.1 g mL−1
in pure ethyl-alcohol) at 2000 rpm for 60 s. A 1 mm wide-100 nm thick
gold gate was evaporated through a shadow mask. Four alternating
layers of guanine and adenine (75 nm thick the first and the third layer of
guanine, 100 and 500 nm thick the second and fourth layer of adenine)
were evaporated in an EDWARDS High Vacuum evaporation system to
form the gate dielectric. 100 nm thick perylene diimide was evaporated to
form the semiconductor layer. The sample holder was placed 15 cm above
the crucibles and evaporation was performed at a pressure of 10−6 torr.
The evaporation rate was 1 nm s−1 for guanine, 3 nm s−1 for adenine,
and 0.1 nm s−1 for perylene diimide. 100 nm thick gold layer formed the
top drain and source electrodes. The source and drain electrodes had
the channel dimensions: L = 100 μm, W = 1 mm. The measured
capacitance per unit area of the dielectric was C0d = 5.1 nF cm−2.
wileyonlinelibrary.com 4075
 www.afm-journal.de
FULL PAPER
Transistor Characterization: Steady state current-voltage measurements
were performed with an Agilent E5273A instrument. Both transfer and
output characteristics were measured at a sweep rate of 66 mV s−1, with
1 s for each of the hold, delay and step delay times, respectively. For the
cycling measurement in 12 h (Figure 5a,b in text) an increment of 0.1 s
was used for the hold, delay and step delay times.
Supporting Information
Supporting Information is available from the Wiley Online Library or
from the author.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Aydin Enver, Alberto Montaigne Ramil, Clemens
Schwarzinger, Helmut Neugenbauer and Matthew White for fruitful
discussions and suggestions. Thanks are addressed to Stefanie Schlager,
Derya Baran, Christoph Keplinger and Martin Kaltenbrunner for the
transistor photos. Aknowledgement is conveyed to Joerg Auffermann
(BASF), for his kind supply of Ecoflex, to Bin Tan (Shanghai Jucheng)
for his kind supply of vat dyes as well as to Wally Ridgeway (Auburn
University, USA) for the development of Figure 1 in the text. The work
was financially funded by the Austrian Science Foundation “FWF” within
the National Research Network NFN on Organic Devices (P20772-N20,
S09712-N08, S09706-N08 and S9711-N08) as well as by the Russian
Foundation for Basic Research (07–04–01742-a) and by the Russian
Ministry of Science and Education (02–513–11–3382).
Received: May 21, 2010
Revised: July 7, 2010
published online: September 9, 2010
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