eWEAR: Supramolecular Chemistry Enables Highly Conductive and Stretchable Bioelectronics
Meeting Reports
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Jul 28, 2022
A major challenge confronted by this exciting technology is the mechanical mismatches between the rigid electronics and the soft biological systems, which can cause device failure as the surfaces are continuously moving. One promising solution is to establish seamless and conformal bioelectrode interfaces based on intrinsically stretchable organic materials with high mechanical robustness and electrical conductivity. These organic materials should be patternable with a facile fabrication process to produce high-density micro-electrode arrays that can effectively collect biological signals and deliver electrical stimulation when in contact with tissue.
One of the persisting hurdles is to combine high mechanical robustness with good electrical conduction, especially when patterned at small feature sizes for bioelectronic devices. Poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is a well-known conducting polymer with promising performances for use in soft bioelectronics. Previous efforts using ionic and molecular additives improved conductivity and stretchability of PEDOT:PSS, but their performance dropped substantially right after contact with solvent or immersion in physiological fluids because the non–crosslinked additives were washed away. To meet the complex requirements of bioelectronics, a group of scientists led by Prof. Zhenan Bao leveraged supramolecular chemistry to rationally construct a topological supramolecular network using multi-functional molecular building blocks, as described in a recent report in Science.
A major challenge confronted by this exciting technology is the mechanical mismatches between the rigid electronics and the soft biological systems, which can cause device failure as the surfaces are continuously moving. One promising solution is to establish seamless and conformal bioelectrode interfaces based on intrinsically stretchable organic materials with high mechanical robustness and electrical conductivity. These organic materials should be patternable with a facile fabrication process to produce high-density micro-electrode arrays that can effectively collect biological signals and deliver electrical stimulation when in contact with tissue.
One of the persisting hurdles is to combine high mechanical robustness with good electrical conduction, especially when patterned at small feature sizes for bioelectronic devices. Poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is a well-known conducting polymer with promising performances for use in soft bioelectronics. Previous efforts using ionic and molecular additives improved conductivity and stretchability of PEDOT:PSS, but their performance dropped substantially right after contact with solvent or immersion in physiological fluids because the non–crosslinked additives were washed away. To meet the complex requirements of bioelectronics, a group of scientists led by Prof. Zhenan Bao leveraged supramolecular chemistry to rationally construct a topological supramolecular network using multi-functional molecular building blocks, as described in a recent report in Science.
