Nanocorrugated Conducting Polymer–Based Electrochemical Transistors with Enhanced Ionic-Electronic Transduction for Ultrasensitive Biomolecular Detection
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Although electrolyte-gated organic transistor (EGOT) biosensors enable label-free volumetric biosensing, their sensitivity in physiological environments remains fundamentally limited by poor polymer microstructure ordering and inefficient ion–channel coupling. This paper introduces EGOTs with geometrically reconfigured mixed ionic–electronic transport enabled by nanocorrugated poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) channels. PEDOT:PSS films conformally deposited onto nanoscale corrugated SiO2/Si substrates undergo curvature-induced local chain reorganization and topography-guided nanoscale redistribution of PEDOT- and PSS-associated regions. These changes are associated with enhanced π–π stacking, improved polymer ordering, and more efficient gate–channel coupling. Compared with flat counterparts, the nanocorrugated devices exhibit improved ion accessibility, transconductance, and threshold-voltage modulation. The proposed platform enables ultrasensitive detection of nucleic acids and stroke-related protein biomarkers in buffer, serum, and whole blood, achieving a threshold-based measured DNA LOD of 20 aM in buffer, while statistically significant separation from negative controls begins at 200 aM; IL-6 is detected down to 1 fM under the tested buffer conditions. Electrochemical measurements and structural analysis reveal polymer chain alignment confined within the corrugation valleys and enhanced mixed ionic-electronic coupling. Overall, nanoscale corrugation enables a previously unexplored route to tune ion transport, reconfigure the polymer network, and enhance volumetric transduction in conducting polymer EGOTs, thereby facilitating robust biosensing under physiologically relevant environments.
Source: ChemRxiv
Language: English
Subfield: Polymers and Plastics
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7208751695