The design of multifunctional materials and solid-state electrolytes combined with the engineering of advanced interfaces remains a key challenge in the development of efficient, highly performing and durable electrochemical systems and next-generation optoelectronic devices. These include smart technologies such as multifunctional photoelectrochromic energy storage devices, as well as systems for bioelectronic, neuromorphic computing and sensing applications. In this context, the study on organic mixed electronic/ionic materials (OMIECs), such as mixed conducting polymers (CPs), and the fundamental mechanisms of charge transport have attracted a growing interest in recent years. This interest is opening the way for the development of novel device architectures, and prompting a paradigm shift in device design, physics, operating principles, and manufacturing.

Despite rapid progress in materials science of organic electronic, the development of multifunctional materials with tailored ionic and electronic transport properties, in combination with stable and well-engineered interfaces, continues to present major challenges. These materials and interfaces are crucial for the realization of next-generation electrochemical systems (e.g., organic electrochemical transistors), optoelectronic devices (e.g., energy-harvesting smart windows), neuromorphic and bioelectronic technologies. Among the various critical issues, one of the main challenge lies in the design and fabrication of stable OMIEC materials capable of controlling mixed ionic and electronic transport, particularly under operational conditions. Additionally, the phenomena and the degradation process at the interphase between OMIECs and electrolytes or conductive substrates often lead to poor performance, or limited device lifetimes. Recent advances in synthetic chemistry and theoretical study have demonstrated the potential of hybrid materials, novel polymer blends of CPs, defect-engineered structures, and computational modeling to tune charge transport features and enhance their stability. At the same time, emerging characterization techniques now allow for operando investigation of transport dynamics and degradation mechanisms, offering a powerful tool for the understanding of the material behavior.

To address these challenges, this Research Topic aims to collect contributions exploring the following specific themes:

• Synthesis of novel mixed ionic/electronic materials
• Fabrication of effective and reliable solid-state OMIECs thin films
• Development of solid-state electrolytes for high-performance systems
• Advanced in-operando characterization techniques
• Modeling and simulation of mixed charge transport in OMIEC materials
• Realization of neuromorphic, artificial synapsis, electrochemical transistors, and smart glass devices for optoelectronic applications
• Design of innovative device structures

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Organic Mixed Ion and Electronic Conductive Polymers for Next-generation Bioelectronic and Optoelectronic Devices