Printable Bioelectronics To Investigate Functional Biological Interfaces

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015 Oct 19;54(43):12562-76. doi: 10.1002/anie.201502615. Epub 2015 Sep 30.

Abstract

Thin-film transistors can be used as high-performance bioelectronic devices to accomplish tasks such as sensing or controlling the release of biological species as well as transducing the electrical activity of cells or even organs, such as the brain. Organic, graphene, or zinc oxide are used as convenient printable semiconducting layers and can lead to high-performance low-cost bioelectronic sensing devices that are potentially very useful for point-of-care applications. Among others, electrolyte-gated transistors are of interest as they can be operated as capacitance-modulated devices, because of the high capacitance of their charge double layers. Specifically, it is the capacitance of the biolayer, being lowest in a series of capacitors, which controls the output current of the device. Such an occurrence allows for extremely high sensitivity towards very weak interactions. All the aspects governing these processes are reviewed here.

Keywords: capacitance; chiral resolution; organic transistors; sensors; thermodynamics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation
  • Biosensing Techniques / methods*
  • Electric Capacitance
  • Electrolytes / chemistry
  • Electronics, Medical / instrumentation
  • Electronics, Medical / methods*
  • Equipment Design
  • Graphite / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Printing / instrumentation
  • Printing / methods*
  • Thermodynamics
  • Transistors, Electronic*
  • Zinc Oxide / chemistry

Substances

  • Electrolytes
  • Graphite
  • Zinc Oxide