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Abstract Wave‐particle duality, intertwining two inherently contradictory properties of quantum systems, remains one of the most conceptually profound aspects of quantum mechanics. By using the concept of energy capacity, the ability of a quantum system to store and extract energy, a device‐independent uncertainty relation is derived for wave‐particle duality. This relation is shown to be independent of both the representation space and the measurement basis of the quantum system. Furthermore, it is experimentally validated that this wave‐particle duality relation using a photon‐based platform. 

Abstract Organic electrochemical transistors are a promising technology for bioelectronic devices, with applications in neuromorphic computing and healthcare. The active component enabling an organic electrochemical transistor is the organic mixed ionic-electronic conductor whose optimization is critical for realizing high-performing devices. In this study, the influence of purity and molecular weight is examined for a p-type polythiophene and an n-type naphthalene diimide-based polymer in improving the performance and safety of organic electrochemical transistors. Our preparative GPC purification reduced the Pd content in the polymers and improved their organic electrochemical transistor mobility by ~60% and 80% for the p- and n-type materials, respectively. These findings demonstrate the paramount importance of removing residual Pd, which was concluded to be more critical than optimization of a polymer’s molecular weight, to improve organic electrochemical transistor performance and that there is readily available improvement in performance and stability of many of the reported organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors. 

N-type semiconducting polymers have been recently utilized in thermoelectric devices, however they have typically exhibited low electrical conductivities and poor device stability, in contrast to p-type semiconductors, which have been much higher performing. This is due in particular to the n-type semiconductor's low doping efficiency, and poor charge carrier mobility. Strategies to enhance the thermoelectric performance of n-type materials include optimizing the electron affinity (EA) with respect to the dopant to improve the doping process and increasing the charge carrier mobility through enhanced molecular packing. Here, we report the design, synthesis and characterization of fused electron-deficient n-type copolymers incorporating the electron withdrawing lactone unit along the backbone. The polymers were synthesized using metal-free aldol condensation conditions to explore the effect of enlarging the central phenyl ring to a naphthalene ring, on the electrical conductivity. When n-doped with N-DMBI, electrical conductivities of up to 0.28 S cm −1 , Seebeck coefficients of −75 μV K −1 and maximum Power factors of 0.16 μW m −1 K −2 were observed from the polymer with the largest electron affinity of −4.68 eV. Extending the aromatic ring reduced the electron affinity, due to reducing the density of electron withdrawing groups and subsequently the electrical conductivity reduced by almost two orders of magnitude.