The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

In-plane organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are advantageous for integration but often suffer from low voltage efficiency with capacitive metal electrodes. To overcome this, we developed a high-efficiency device using a bio-inspired hydrogel electrolyte paired with a proton conductor-blended PEDOT:PSS channel. This system is designed to maximize responsiveness under low effective voltages. The hydrogel ensures a stable proton supply, while the blended proton conductor induces phase separation to facilitate rapid charge carrier transport. In addition, the proton conductor domains within the PEDOT:PSS channel act as proton traps, enabling tunable synaptic plasticity for low-power neuromorphic applications. The optimized device successfully overcame the trade-off between electrical characteristics and synaptic performance, demonstrating the improvements in both metrics.