Chemical Sensing in Aqueous Media by Organic TFTs

We have focused on organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) as platforms for chemical sensor devices. The extended gate-type OTFTs functionalized with natural or artificial molecular recognition materials were fabricated to achieve the detection of targets in complete aqueous media. The OTFTs have enabled to detect environmentally and/or biologically important analytes (i.e., cations, anions, neutrally charged molecules, and proteins). In addition, the extended-gate type OTFTs integrated with microfluidic systems have allowed monitoring of biologically important analytes in a real-time manner. Thus, we strongly believe that our approach will be new intriguing sensor platforms in the field of analytical chemistry, clinical chemistry, and organic electronics.