Summary
With the rise of wearable electronics, developing materials that withstand mechanical strain without losing electrical performance is crucial. Polymer-based field-effect transistors (FETs) are key components but often brittle due to rigid molecular structures needed for charge transport. A team led by Professor Zhenan Bao and Dr. Hung-Chin Wu at Stanford University addressed this by incorporating metal-ligand-based mechanophores into polymer semiconductors (PSCs). These dynamic bonds improve mechanical strength and charge transport by breaking and reforming under stress, enabling self-healing properties. Their metallated DPPTVT-Py-FeB film showed enhanced stretchability and twice the charge mobility of conventional PSCs. This breakthrough offers promising potential for creating stretchable, durable electronics in future wearable devices.