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Achieving lateral doping gradients in organic semiconductors (OSCs) via solution processing is crucial but remains a challenge. A gold-activated persulfate doping strategy can locally oxidize OSCs and create a lateral doping gradient, enabling low contact resistance and high carrier mobility in solution-processed organic field-effect transistors.

Organic electrochemical neuron sensors enable rapid, energy-efficient neural signal detection and modulation, supporting closed-loop neuromodulation and offering a promising platform for implantable neurotherapeutic applications.

Some of the best-performing semiconducting polymers for electronic devices show a surprising lack of long-range order to support their electrical conductivity. Here Zhang et al.find a common alignment of the structural backbones of these polymers, explaining their superior charge transport.

The photocurrent generated in organic photodetectors and solar cells can be enhanced by increasing light absorption in the active layer. It is now shown that an extended persistence length can increase the oscillator strength of conjugated polymers.

The distinctive interdependence in mixed ionic-electronic conductors emulates retinal pathway. Here, the authors develop a modular organic neuromorphic spiking circuit to replicate the interdependent functions of receptors, neurons and synapses that are chemically modulated by neurotransmitters.

Studies on the morphology stability of polymer donor–small-molecule acceptor blends relevant to solar cell stability reveal relationships between their intermolecular interactions and the thermodynamic, kinetic, thermal and mechanical properties.

Ambipolar organic electrochemical transistors simplify bioelectronics circuitry but are challenging due to complicated material design and synthesis. Here, the authors demonstrate that p- and n-type blends offer a simple and tuneable approach for the fabrication of ambipolar devices and circuits.

The optimization of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductor is critical to realize high performance organic electrochemical transistors. Here, the authors demonstrate the removal of residual palladium impurities to be the key factor to achieving a figure-of-merit of [μC*] of over 2000 V⁻¹ cm⁻¹ s⁻¹.

This works presents a series of solution processable, conjugated polymers of intrinsic microporosity, which are used as photocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction to carbon monoxide in the presence of hydrogen.

Aldol condensation is an important reaction in polymer synthesis, but due to the lack of reliable analytical methods, direct evidence of the polymer microstructure and sequence has remained elusive. Here, the authors combine electrospray deposition and scanning tunnelling microscopy to image four n-type polymers at sub-monomer resolution, revealing and quantifying unexpected structural defects intrinsic to the aldol condensation process.

Organic semiconductor heterojunction photocatalysts are promising for synthesis of solar fuels yet a deeper understanding of their underlying photophysics is needed to improve performance. Here, the authors show that such materials can intrinsically generate remarkably long-lived reactive charges, enabling them to efficiently drive hydrogen evolution.

It is imperative that sustainability issues are considered throughout the life cycle of modern organic electronic devices. Here McCulloch and colleagues evaluate the status of embedded carbon, options for more sustainable materials, and recycling solutions both during manufacturing and at the end of life in organic electronic products.

Photocatalysts formed from a single organic semiconductor can suffer from inefficient charge generation leading to low photocatalytic activities. Incorporating a heterojunction between a donor polymer and non-fullerene acceptor in organic nanoparticles leads to enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Ternary organic blends using two non-fullerene acceptors are shown to improve the efficiency and stability of low-cost solar cells based on P3HT and of high-performance photovoltaic devices based on low-bandgap donor polymers.

The stability and performance of organic electrochemical transistors can be improved using a two-step technique in which oxygen is first removed from the solvent and then a chemical dopant is introduced into the organic mixed ionic–electronic conductor.

Chemical approaches to improve aqueous dispersions of conjugated polymers are limited by the feasibility of modifying the backbone or lead to poor performance. Here, Liu et al. show that ground-state electron transfer in donor:acceptor blends aids aqueous dispersion, for high conductivity and solubility.

Organic neural implants hold considerable promise for biocompatible neural interfaces. Here, the authors employ polymer-based organic electrochemical diodes and transistors to develop neuron-sized complex circuits, enabling multiplexing without crosstalk and demonstrate that, when integrated onto ultra-thin plastic, these circuits achieve high performance while maintaining minimal invasiveness.

Measurements and simulations of several high-mobility conjugated polymers show that their charge transport properties reflect an almost complete lack of disorder in the polymers, despite their amorphous microstructures, resulting from the resilience of the planar polymer backbone conformations to side-chain disorder.

Electrochemical properties of organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors depend on their microstructure in operational ionic environments. The microstructure of a model organic mixed ionic–electronic conductor across multiple length scales in both dry and hydrated states, as well as its evolution on hydration, is revealed using cryogenic four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy.

Organic mixed ion-electron conductors are emerging as promising platforms for innovative bioelectronic, neuromorphic, and electro-optical technologies. In this work, authors explore the potential of this class of electronic materials in THz technologies by developing reconfigurable metasurfaces via direct-writing methods.

Many phototransistors are multi-component systems with inorganic materials or involve faradaic processes that can be irreversible. Using a single photoactive polymer, Druet et al. report a reversible, water-compatible n-type photoelectrochemical transistor with potentiometric photodetection and current modulation.

Mixed ionic–electronic transport in conducting polymers remains poorly understood. Here the authors observe non-equilibrium electronic transport when counterions are unable to equilibrate in response to gate-injected electronic carriers.

Thermoelectric plastics with a high figure of merit, suppressed thermal conductivity and an enhanced power factor are realized by combining layered and bulk heterojunctions to create a polymeric multi-heterojunction.

A polymer semiconductor/ionic-liquid nanocomposite exhibiting mixed conduction is reported. Using operando X-ray scattering, dynamic structural changes are observed on electrochemical charging, which enables efficient electronic transport.

In organic photovoltaics, the best performing devices usually involve low-bandgap polymers whose limited solubility and stability constrain the scalability of organic solar cells. Here, Holliday et al. develop a new acceptor and pair it with canonical P3HT to obtain 6.4% efficient and stable devices.

Semiconducting polymers are usually prepared by transition metal mediated coupling reactions that cause problems for sustainability and biological applications. Here the authors synthesise fused electron deficient polymers that are air stable and have high electron affinities, via metal free aldol polymerisation reactions.

Commercialization of organic electronics has been limited by the complex processing required to make large-scale devices from single crystals. A new approach exploiting composite phase behaviour facilitates the manufacture of crystalline films from solution for high-quality devices.

Krauhausen et al. developed a robotic system that learned how to avoid dangerous objects. This behavioural conditioning was demonstrated by forming multimodal associative connections of various sensors, using an integrated organic neuromorphic circuit.

Understanding the mechanism of non-radiative losses in organic photovoltaics is crucial to improve the performance further. Here, the authors use combined device and spectroscopic data to reveal universal model to maximise exciton splitting and charge separation by adjusting the energy of charge transfer state.

Donor–acceptor systems with low energy-level offset enable high power efficiency in organic solar cells yet it is unclear what drives charge generation. Classen et al. show that long exciton lifetimes enable efficient exciton splitting and thus generation of free charges while also suppressing voltage losses.

Electrochemical doping is assumed to be limited by ion motion due to large mass in mixed ionic-electronic conductors. Here, the authors reveal in a typical polythiophene that electrochemical doping speeds are limited by poor hole transport at low doping levels, leading to much slower switching speeds than expected.

Organic electrochemical transistors transduce ionic to electronic signals in aqueous solutions, holding promise for biological sensing applications. Here, Giovannitti et al. report an ambipolar organic electrochemical transistor, based on a conjugated copolymer, which has a high stability in water.

The spin dynamics at organic donor–acceptor junctions is critical in determining charge generation and recombination in devices, but the detail is still unclear. Here, Dimitrov et al. observe singlet–triplet spin mixing at nanosecond timescales, which competes directly with free charge separation.

Organic semiconductors with long spin lifetime hold promise for future spintronics devices that can process and store information. Here, Schottet al. perform a systematic study of the strength of spin-orbit coupling and its effect on spin lifetime over 32 promising molecules with high charge mobility.

The translation of transistor-based sensor technologies is limited by unreliable potentiometric sensing. Here, the authors propose a transistor configuration that eliminates the measurement inaccuracies associated with electrochemical transistor-based potentiometric sensors.

An organic artificial neuron that is based on a compact nonlinear electrochemical element can operate in a liquid and responds to the concentration of biological species in its surroundings, allowing its behaviour to be modulated, for example, by interfacing with the membranes of living cells.

Combining experiments, numerical non-linear simulations, and analytical tools, the authors here unravel the operation of organic artificial neurons in liquid environment, crucial components in neuromorphic bioelectronics, neuronal networks, and neuromorphic electronics.

Electrical instability of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) during operation remains a challenge that limits the device’s real-world technological viability. Here, the authors report a method for diagnosing and suppressing bias stress in solution-processed OFETs operated in air.

Organic electrochemical transistors functionalized with antigen-specific nanobodies can rapidly detect attomolar-to-nanomolar levels of the antigens in complex bodily fluids.

Next-generation skin-inspired electronics require enhanced mechanical robustness and device complexity including elasticity, solvent resistance, and facile patternability. Here, the authors show a molecular design concept that simultaneously achieves all these requirements by covalently linking an in-situ formed rubber matrix with polymer electronic materials.

The long spin lifetimes observed in polymeric semiconductors hold promise for potential applications. A careful study untangles the main mechanism behind them.

A monomer molecular dopant with high electron affinity is shown to accept up to two electrons from conjugated polymers with low ionization efficiency and then generate free charge carriers with an efficiency of up to 170%.

Water-based semiconducting polymer nanoparticles are eco-friendly and non-toxic but their performance suffers from the surfactants. Here Xie et al. design an approach to minimize the amount of residual surfactant in these nanoparticles and make high-efficiency and stability solar cells.

Minimizing contact effects in organic semiconductor-based devices is a key step toward the development of a low-cost technology for next-generation electronics. Here, the authors reduce contact resistance in organic devices by engineering electrodes with high work function surface domains.

The short-range diffusion length of organic semiconductors severely limits exciton harvesting and charge generation in organic bulk heterojunction solar cells. Here, the authors report exciton diffusion length in the range of 20 to 47 nm for a wide range of non-fullerene acceptors molecules.