An interdisciplinary team of scientists from different countries has developed a transistor for lightweight, flexible and high-performance electronics. It is compatible with water and blood and is capable of amplifying body signals. The inventors suggest using it to measure vital signs, such as potassium and sodium levels in the blood or eye movement in people with sleep disorders.

"All modern electronics are based on transistors that turn current on and off at a high rate," said Tobin Marks, co-author of the study from Northwestern University. They used chemistry to enhance this switching. Our electrochemical transistor takes performance to a whole other level. It has all the properties of a modern transistor, but a much higher steepness of the transfer characteristic, ultra-stable cycling of switching properties, a small reference surface allowing high integration density, and a simple and cheap manufacturing method.

The electrochemical transistor is based on a new type of electrically conductive polymer and on a vertical rather than a planar architecture. It conducts both electricity and ions and is stable in air. The development of such a complex device required the involvement of scientists from different fields of expertise: materials scientists, chemists, biomedical engineers.

Two types of transistors, with hole and electronic conductivity, are needed to create a powerful and reliable electronic circuit. A study by scientists has demonstrated for the first time the equally high performance of both types of electrochemical transistors in a complementary circuit.

The new type of transistor allows us to speak the language of both biological systems, which often communicate through ionic signals, and electronic systems, which communicate through electrons.