2025 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and Systems (FLEPS) • 2025

Rapid prototyping of Organic Electrochemical Transistors using dispenser printing on flexible substrates for future e-textiles

Changxin Shen (Smart Electronic Materials and Systems, Center for Flexible Electronics and E-Textiles, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK), Abiodun Komolafe (Smart Electronic Materials and Systems, Center for Flexible Electronics and E-Textiles, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK), Sheng Yong (Smart Electronic Materials and Systems, Center for Flexible Electronics and E-Textiles, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK), Stephen Beeby (Smart Electronic Materials and Systems, Center for Flexible Electronics and E-Textiles, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK), Russel Torah (Smart Electronic Materials and Systems, Center for Flexible Electronics and E-Textiles, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK)

Organic Electrochemical TransistorsE-textilesPrinted electronicsDispenser printing

Highlights

  • Demonstrates dispenser printing of OECTs using screen-printable inks on flexible substrates
  • Achieves ON/OFF current ratio of approximately 3000 at Vds = 1 V
  • Vertical OECT architecture with 3 mm × 3 mm footprint and 1 mm × 1 mm channel
  • Reported switching times: turn-off ~1.38 s, turn-on ~2.62 s; expected to improve with smaller channels
  • Process enables rapid prototyping with direct digital design, compatible with later screen-printing scale-up

Abstract

Flexible printed electronics are key for wearable devices but typically need multiple fabrication techniques that are challenging for garment manufacturing. Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) can operate without the high-definition manufacturing required by traditional transistor structures. OECTs have been shown in flexible ICs and biosensors, leveraging ionic conduction. This work demonstrates a rapid prototyping method that uses screen-printable inks with a dispenser printer to fabricate bespoke OECTs on flexible substrates, enabling fast design iteration and future scale-up via screen printing for e-textile logic and biosensor systems. Dispenser-printed OECTs achieved an ON/OFF current ratio up to 3000, highlighting the potential of dispenser printing for rapid prototyping of printed transistor circuits and sensors.

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Citation

Shen, C.; Komolafe, A.; Yong, S.; Beeby, S.; Torah, R. Rapid prototyping of Organic Electrochemical Transistors using dispenser printing on flexible substrates for future e-textiles. In Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and Systems (FLEPS), 2025. DOI: 10.1109/FLEPS65444.2025.11105654.

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