Organic neuromorphic biomaterials for cell-chip coupling
Francesca Santoro a
a Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)
Proceedings of MATSUS Fall 2023 Conference (MATSUSFall23)
#BIOELCHEM - Bioelectrochemical Systems from Sustainable Electrode Materials
Torremolinos, Spain, 2023 October 16th - 20th
Organizers: Anna-Maria Pappa and Kyriaki Polychronopoulou
Invited Speaker, Francesca Santoro, presentation 361
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2023.361
Publication date: 18th July 2023

The interface between biological cells and non-biological materials has profound influences on cellular activities, chronic tissue responses, and ultimately the success of medical implants and bioelectronic devices. For instance, electroactive materials in contact with cells can have very different composition, surface topography and dimensionality. Dimensionality defines the possibility to have planar (2D), pseudo-3D (planar with nano-micropatterned surface) and 3D conductive materials (i.e., scaffolds) in bioelectronics devices. Their success for both in vivo and in vitro applications lie in the effective coupling/adhesion of cells/tissues with the devices’ surfaces. It is known how a large cleft between the cellular membrane and the electrode surface massively affects the quality of the recorded signals or ultimately the stimulation efficiency of a device. In fact, the shape and the composition of these newly designed electrodes recalls those features of neuronal cells to ultimately induce biomimetic recognition. Furthermore, conductive materials that exhibit dynamic properties and organic composition might better recapitulate the native environment of tissue. However, engineering such new platforms still require materials synthesis, integration into microfabricated platforms and stable cell interfacing. Here, we propose a new class of organic conductive materials which resemble the biomimetic architecture of neurite and dendritic spines, can undergo dynamic reshaping and can be functionalized with artificial membrane to enhance cell coupling and outgrowth. The cell response can be monitored and eventually is adapting to the substrate changes over time. These new electrodes can pave the way to adaptive microdevices of use in bioelectronic applications such as electrophysiology and sensing.

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