Among the materials for flexible electronics is a composite based on a polymer and reduced graphene oxide, a widely available nanocompound of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen (CHO). This composite is a sheet of thermoplastic polymer with a conductive layer of CHO in its top layer.
The scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University have found that one can adjust the properties of this composite material via electrochemical processing. As a result, the thermoplastic polymer on the surface is destroyed, exposing electroactive reduced graphene oxide. This opens access to the surface for ions from the environment surrounding the composite, making it possible to create an ion sensor in the form of a transistor with an electrolytic gate.
“Studies have shown that we can use controlled reactions of oxidation and reduction of reduced graphene oxide to change the electrochemical properties of the composite in an electrolyte solution, to make it more or less conductive. This technology could form the basis for flexible transistors with an electrolytic gate,” Maxim Fatkullin, one of the authors of the study, is quoted as saying by Tomsk Polytechnic University.
Today, transistors with an electrolytic gate are used as sensors for measuring the concentration of various ions. Flexible transistors will make it possible to develop compact devices that can be folded up.
