Organic electronics is a rapidly growing sector – in fact, the organic electronics market size is projected to reach multimillion over $1 billion by 2028 and growing at a CAGR of 16.4% between 2023 and 2028.
Organic electronics is a field of materials science concerning the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of organic small molecules or polymers that show desirable electronic properties such as conductivity.
Analysts believe organic electronics is a promising technology as it allows for high-throughput manufacturing of the eco-friendly, low-cost, ultralightweight, flexible devices with various optoelectronic or electronic functionalities.
Take ZnO, a low-cost and eco-friendly semiconducting material, possesses some of the advantageous properties necessary for the fabrication of these devices. Together with n-type properties and a relatively low conduction band edge or work function, the tunable optoelectronic properties, ability to get deposited using scalable techniques, and the compatibility with flexible substrates make ZnO one of the most popular materials in organic electronics.
It is likely that ZnO in its various forms will continue to play a major role in improving organic electronic devices or similar emerging devices based on QDs and perovskites.
One particularly interesting aspect about organic electronics is how they can interact with plants, and with microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae. In fact, researchers have recently proposed a symbiotic electronic device made of algae and an organic transistor.
In this symbiotic device, a carpet of living algae is printed on top of a large area gate terminal of the transistor. The algae population generates by photosynthesis electrical charges that are then transduced into an electrical current by an array of organic transistors. The device can be made to float on the ocean surface and generate electricity for remote and stand-alone applications.
In this emergent field, research is also ongoing in what could be the next big revolution in organic electronics, bioelectronics, where organic bioelectronic devices can be used to translate biological signals and promote the regeneration of biological tissues and even repair faulty nervous connections. Amazingly, organic semiconductors have the unique capability to translate both ionic and electronic signals.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers Fundamentals of Organic Electronics Crash Course, an innovative 3-day course that covers trends in today’s rapidly changing electronics industry.
Organic electronics training covers diverse topics including current and next generation display, transistor, photovoltaic, and sensor technologies, concepts, research, products and services.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.