Printable inks and deformable electronic array devices.

Deformable printed electronic array devices are expected to revolutionize next-generation electronics. However, although remarkable technological advances in printable inks and deformable electronic array devices have recently been achieved, technical challenges remain to commercialize these technologies. In this review article a brief introduction to printing methods highlighting significant research studies on ink formation for conductors, semiconductors, and insulators is provided, and the structural design and successful printing strategies of deformable electronic array devices are described. Successful device demonstrations are presented in the applications of passive- and active-matrix array devices. Finally, perspectives and technological challenges to be achieved are pointed out to print practically available deformable devices.

Dual-pulse photoactivated atomic force microscopy.

Photoactivated atomic force microscopy (pAFM), which integrates light excitation and mechanical detection of the deflections of a cantilever tip, has become a widely used tool for probing nanoscale structures. Raising the illuminating laser power is an obvious way to boost the signal-to-noise ratio of pAFM, but strong laser power can damage both the sample and cantilever tip. Here, we demonstrate a dual-pulse pAFM (DP-pAFM) that avoids this problem by using two laser pulses with a time delay. The first laser heats the light absorber and alters the local Grüneisen parameter value, and the second laser boosts the mechanical vibration within the thermal relaxation time. Using this technique, we successfully mapped the optical structures of small-molecule semiconductor films. Of particular interest, DP-pAFM clearly visualized nanoscale cracks in organic semiconductor films, which create crucial problems for small-molecule semiconductors. DP-pAFM opens a promising new optical avenue for studying complex nanoscale phenomena in various research fields.

All-Inkjet-Printed 3D Alveolar Barrier Model with Physiologically Relevant Microarchitecture.

With the outbreak of new respiratory viruses and high mortality rates of pulmonary diseases, physiologically relevant models of human respiratory system are urgently needed to study disease pathogenesis, drug efficacy, and pharmaceutics. In this paper, a 3D alveolar barrier model fabricated by printing four human alveolar cell lines, namely, type I and II alveolar cells (NCI-H1703 and NCI-H441), lung fibroblasts (MRC5), and lung microvascular endothelial cells (HULEC-5a) is presented. Automated high-resolution deposition of alveolar cells by drop-on-demand inkjet printing enables to fabricate a three-layered alveolar barrier model with an unprecedented thickness of ≈10 µm. The results show that the 3D structured model better recapitulate the structure, morphologies, and functions of the lung tissue, compared not only to a conventional 2D cell culture model, as expected, but also a 3D non-structured model of a homogeneous mixture of the alveolar cells and collagen. Finally, it is demonstrated that this thin multilayered model reproduce practical tissue-level responses to influenza infection. Drop-on-demand inkjet-printing is an enabling technology for customization, scalable manufacturing, and standardization of their size and growth, and it is believed that this 3D alveolar barrier model can be used as an alternative to traditional test models for pathological and pharmaceutical applications.

Control of Concentration of Nonhydrogen-Bonded Hydroxyl Groups in Polymer Dielectrics for Organic Field-Effect Transistors with Operational Stability.

Poly(4-vinylphenol) (PVP) is a promising gate dielectric material for organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) and circuits fabricated on plastic substrates. Thermal cross-linking of PVP with a cross-linker, such as poly(melamine- co-formaldehyde) methylated (PMF), at a high temperature (above 170 °C) is widely considered an effective method to remove residual hydroxyl groups that induce polarization effects in the dielectric bulk. However, the threshold voltage shift in transfer characteristics is still observed for an OFET with a PVP-PMF dielectric when it is operated at a slow gate voltage sweep rate. The present study examines the cause of the undesired hysteresis phenomenon and suggests a route to enable a reliable operation. We systematically investigate the effect of the PVP-PMF weight ratio and their annealing temperature on the transfer characteristics of OFETs. We discover that the size of the hysteresis is closely related to the concentration of nonhydrogen-bonded hydroxyl groups in the dielectric bulk and this is controlled by the weight ratio. At a ratio of 0.5:1, a complete elimination of hysteresis was observed irrespective of the annealing temperature. We finally demonstrate a highly reliable operation of small-molecule-based OFETs fabricated on a plastic substrate at a low temperature.