Poly(3-hexylthiophene) as a versatile semiconducting polymer for cutting-edge bioelectronics

Abstract

Semiconducting polymers (SPs), widely used in organic optoelectronics, are gaining interest in bioelectronics owing to their intrinsic optical properties, conductivity, biocompatibility, flexibility, and chemical tunability. Among them, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) has attracted great attention as a versatile SP, being both optically active and conductive, for the fabrication of smart materials (e.g., films and nanoparticles), allowing the modulation of their performance and final biomedical applications. This review article provides an overview of the design of different kinds of P3HT-based materials, from chemical properties to structural engineering, to be used as key opto-electronic components in the development of opto-transducers for the modulation of cell fate, as well as biosensors such as organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) and organic field effect transistors (OEFTs). Finally, their foremost applications in the biomedical field ranging from tissue engineering to biosensing will be discussed, including the future perspectives of P3HT derivatives towards cutting-edge applications for bioelectronics, in which optoceutics plays a key role.