Local Chemical Enhancement and Gating of Organic Coordinated Ionic-Electronic Transport

Abstract Superior properties in organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) over inorganic counterparts have inspired intense interest for biosensing,1 soft-robotics,2,3 neuromorphic computing,4 and smart medicine.5 However, slow ion transport in these materials continues to limit their application in these technologies. Here we demonstrate that hydrophilic molecules local to an interfacial OMIEC nanochannel can accelerate ion transport with ion mobilities surpassing electrophoretic transport by more than an order of magnitude. Furthermore, ion access to this interfacial channel can be gated through local surface energy. We apply this mechanism in a novel sensing device, which electronically detects and characterizes chemical reaction dynamics local to the buried channel. The ability to enhance ion transport at the nanoscale in OMIECs as well as control ion transport through local chemical signaling enables new functionalities for printable, stretchable, and biocompatible mixed conduction devices.