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Electronic Materials
Chemistry In Pictures
Chemistry in Pictures: A soft semiconductor
by Brianna Barbu
December 4, 2024
Credit: John Zich
Credit: John Zich
Most semiconductor materials are rigid and water-repelling, which aren’t ideal qualities for interacting with soft, wet biological tissues. Sihong Wang and his group at the University of Chicago developed a semiconducting hydrogel that is soft and stretchy but doesn’t sacrifice electronic performance—a common challenge in developing flexible electronics. The new hydrogel offers a combination of properties that make it ideal for implantable devices such as sensors, pacemakers, and drug-delivery systems. The material is made of a semiconducting thiophene polymer cross-linked with a gel-forming acrylic monomer. To circumvent the solubility problems, the researchers formed the gel in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)—an organic solvent that mixes well with water—then replaced the DMSO with water to convert it to a hydrogel. They published a paper about it in Science in October (DOI: 10.1126/science.adp9314).
Submitted by Sihong Wang
Photo credit: John Zich
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Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2025 American Chemical Society
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