Biofabrication of Tobacco mosaic virus-nanoscaffolded supercapacitors via temporal capillary microfluidics

Nanotechnology. 2017 Jun 30;28(26):265301. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/aa742f. Epub 2017 May 19.

Abstract

This paper reports the implementation of temporal capillary microfluidic patterns and biological nanoscaffolds in autonomous microfabrication of nanostructured symmetric electrochemical supercapacitors. A photoresist layer was first patterned on the substrate, forming a capillary microfluidics layer with two separated interdigitated microchannels. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) macromolecules suspended in solution are autonomously delivered into the microfluidics, and form a dense bio-nanoscaffolds layer within an hour. This TMV layer is utilized in the electroless plating and thermal oxidation for creating nanostructured NiO supercapacitor. The galvanostatic charge/discharge cycle showed a 3.6-fold increase in areal capacitance for the nanostructured electrode compared to planar structures. The rapid creation of nanostructure-textured microdevices with only simple photolithography and bionanostructure self-assembly can completely eliminate the needs for sophisticated synthesis or deposition processes. This method will contribute to rapid prototyping of wide range of nano-/micro-devices with enhanced performance.

MeSH terms

  • Electric Capacitance
  • Electrodes
  • Macromolecular Substances / chemistry
  • Microfluidics / methods
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Surface Properties
  • Tobacco Mosaic Virus / chemistry*

Substances

  • Macromolecular Substances