Abstract
Implantable electronics are of great interest owing to their capability for real-time and continuous recording of cellular-electrical activity. Nevertheless, as such systems involve direct interfaces with surrounding biofluidic environments, maintaining their long-term sustainable operation, without leakage currents or corrosion, is a daunting challenge. Herein, we present a thin, flexible semiconducting material system that offers attractive attributes in this context. The material consists of crystalline cubic silicon carbide nanomembranes grown on silicon wafers, released and then physically transferred to a final device substrate (e.g., polyimide). The experimental results demonstrate that SiC nanomembranes with thicknesses of 230 nm do not experience the hydrolysis process (i.e., the etching rate is 0 nm/day at 96 °C in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)). There is no observable water permeability for at least 60 days in PBS at 96 °C and non-Na+ ion diffusion detected at a thickness of 50 nm after being soaked in 1× PBS for 12 days. These properties enable Faradaic interfaces between active electronics and biological tissues, as well as multimodal sensing of temperature, strain, and other properties without the need for additional encapsulating layers. These findings create important opportunities for use of flexible, wide band gap materials as essential components of long-lived neurological and cardiac electrophysiological device interfaces.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 11572-11581 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | ACS nano |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 22 2019 |
Funding
This work was partially funded by the linkage Grants LP150100153 and LP160101553 from the Australian Research Council (ARC). The 3C-SiC material was developed and supplied by Leonie Hold and Alan Iacopi of the Queensland Microtechnology Facility, part of the Queensland node-Griffith-of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, a company established under the National collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano and microfabrication facilities for Australia's researchers. The authors acknowledge support from the Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics at Northwestern University. H.P.P. acknowledges research grants from Griffith University Postdoctoral Fellowship (GUPF) and the Griffith University's New Researcher Grants (GUNRG). This work was partially funded by the linkage Grants LP150100153 and LP160101553 from the Australian Research Council (ARC). The 3C-SiC material was developed and supplied by Leonie Hold and Alan Iacopi of the Queensland Microtechnology Facility, part of the Queensland node—Griffith—of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, a company established under the National collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano and microfabrication facilities for Australia’s researchers. The authors acknowledge support from the Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics at Northwestern University. H.P.P. acknowledges research grants from Griffith University Postdoctoral Fellowship (GUPF) and the Griffith University’s New Researcher Grants (GUNRG).
Keywords
- flexible electronics
- implantable electronics
- long-lived operation
- multifunctional sensing
- neuro-electrophysiology
- silicon carbide
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- General Engineering
- General Physics and Astronomy