Solution-processed light-emitting electrochemical cells : challenges and opportunities

Abstract: Our world is filling up with electronics. High-tech gadgets are integrated everywhere, from smart fridges able to track expiry dates and food usage, to microchip implants that let us unlock doors and pay with our hands. As innovative as they are, these new products and the many more to come impose new requirements on materials and fabrication methods. For instance, emerging electronic technologies that deliver light emission such as smart labels, authenticity features and light-based medical therapies, are often required to be flexible, see-through and low-cost, and in addition sustainable to fabricate, operate and recycle.In response to these challenges, the light-emitting industry is turning to organic electronics for solutions, a field that promises resource-efficient fabrication using environmentally benign materials. An interesting proposal is that of the light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC), which, thanks to its simple structure, is well suitedfor high-throughput fabrication. The LEC is in many aspects a smart device, able to reorganize itself during operation via the electrochemical action of mobile ions, which create the injection and transport layers that require additional fabrication steps in other technologies. This elegant behavior makes the LEC tolerant to a large array of materials and fabrication methods, and hence a good fit for many applications.Yet the LEC is still today a scientific curiosity rather than an actual commercial solution and among the very few prototypes available on the market, none are able to meet the combined performance, resource efficiency and sustainability criteria. As a matter of fact, of the three layers that make an LEC, i.e., two electrodes surrounding an active material, only the later meet these requirements thanks to a strong recent research effort. In comparison, the electrodes have received little attention and are almost exclusively comprising metals or metal oxides deposited by time- and energy-expensive fabrication methods, making the LEC as a whole unfit for many applications.In an effort to push the LEC toward the untapped commercial niche of low-cost lighting, we tackle the problem of electrode fabrication with resource-efficiency in mind. We first show that up-scalable spray coating of inks under ambient air is a viable mean of fabrication for both active materials and electrodes alike. However, in doing so, we find that we create electrode interfaces that are open to ion transfer; an up-to-now overlooked issue that needs careful consideration when designing solution-processed LECs. Building on our discovery, we demonstrate that it is possible to fabricate an LEC entirely by using spray coating metal-free and organic inks; thereby demonstrating that an all-organic, metal-free and resource-efficient LEC is possible.I hope that our efforts will encourage others to work on solution-processed LECs, electrodes included, and develop ready-to-use products.