Making Electronic Equipment Flexible

Clothes and gloves can be used to monitor physical symptoms and signs; smart phones could be folded; and laptops might be rolled and put in a pocket. These ideas may soon become reality as the research team led by Professor Li Rongjin and Professor Hu Wenping from Tianjin University has made a great breakthrough in the field of OFETs (Organic field-effect transistor) and developed the space-confined self-assembly (SCS) method for producing two-dimensional molecular crystals (2DMCs) which is a promising candidate for flexible and large-area electronics. In the near future, we may be able to have thin, flexible and wearable electronic devices.

Flexible electronic devices refer to electronic devices that still work with certain kinds of deformation, such as bending, folding, twisting, condensing or stretching. They are regarded as the development trend of future electronic devices. People’s lives will undergo tremendous changes if wearable sensors, implantable medical equipment, bending wrist bands, and folding phones are developed and put to use. Organic electronic devices are the key to make flexible electronic devices. As transistors are an essential parts of electronic components, organic transistors constitute the essential parts of flexible electronic components. Current dominant organic transistors are facing problems like structural defects and instability. How to make stable organic transistors with better structures remains a challenge to be solved by global scientists. Professor Li and Hu’s team from Tianjin University invented the method of polymer grid localization on the water surface, creating OFETs using a two-dimensional organic monocrystalline device with the thickness of single or several molecular layers. They made a two-dimensional organic monocrystalline device under control for the first time，providing a new type of organic transistor with high performance. Research found that the new type of transistor is sensitive to light and electricity and can be used to detect faint infrared signals, which lay a solid foundation for producing flexible infrared detectors.