Recycling conjugated polymers from organic thin film transistors

Organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) fabricated from conjugated polymers have been a technological area of interest for their unique properties, such as solution processability, light weight, and flexibility; nevertheless, environmental sustainability hinders potential for industrial scale-up. Here, we demonstrate OTFT recycling by redissolving the semiconducting polymer active layer from OTFTs and recasting onto new bottom-gate, bottom-contact substrates. The redissolution process selectively strips the polymer from the substrate, allowing for facile use that lowers contamination risks. Device performance of reprocessed OTFTs have comparable mobilities to fresh OTFTs and even have lower hysteresis and off currents, suggesting a removal of ionic impurities by recycling. Showing the recyclability of these polymers from electronic devices increases their viability for sustainable production.