Scientists improve polymer films for organic electronics
Egyptian and Russian researchers say they have improved polymer films, the basis for organic electronics, with the addition of an extra material. Writing in the journal Optik, the researchers said their film is promising for increasing the capacity in lithium polymer batteries, solar cells and the modernisation of organic field-effect transistors.
Organic electronics use organic materials to manufacture microcircuits and other electronic devices. Polymeric materials are used as semiconductors in such electronics and replace traditional electronic components based on silicon, copper, etc. In particular, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer films are highly dielectric and charge-accumulating, and are used in lithium polymer batteries and capacitors, organic light super-capacitors emitting diodes (OLEDs) and solar cells — but they are still inferior to traditional silicon-based batteries in terms of energy storage efficiency. The research team figured out how to make the PVA film more energy-efficient by adding another polymer — polyethylene glycol (PEG) — to its composition.
“The energy capacity of batteries directly depends on the dielectric permittivity of the polymer film,” said Ahmed Henaish, a senior researcher at Ural Federal University. “We analysed how the dielectric properties of the PVA film change when PEG is added in different concentrations — 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20%. Impedance spectroscopy analysis showed that even at a 1% concentration of PEG in the composition, the film’s ability to accumulate electricity increases.”
The improved polymer mixture can also be used in other organic electronic elements. For example, thanks to its new composition, current losses in organic field effect transistors (OFET) are reduced.
“A feature of the field-effect transistor is its low power consumption at fairly high currents,” Henaish said. “Now there is an increased interest in the application of OFET in new industrial devices. However, organic transistors still have a number of drawbacks, the elimination of which depends, among other things, on improving the properties of polymer materials.”
In the future, the researchers plan to study the dielectric properties of thin polymeric nanocomposites made of PVA with aluminium addition.
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