A versatile structure of light-emitting electrochemical cells for printed electronics

The simplicity of light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) offers the potential ability for printed electronics. However, the designs of current LECs are limited and require fine control of the active/metal layers, which hampers their applicability. Here, we propose a versatile LEC structure that is easily prepared by laminating plastic films and drop-casting organic solutions. This simple fabrication allows us to realize various colored LECs with arbitrarily patterned light-emitting shapes. Moreover, the proposed structure is advantageous for building LECs using a solution-based process because of the absence of severe material/metal patterning. Thus, it presents a new approach for developing flexible printed devices.