Application Of Conducting Polymer Electrodes In Cell Impedance Sensing

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ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 249 pages
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Download or read book Conducting Polymers for Micro and Nano Electrodes written by and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis aims at providing a better understanding of the micro- and nanofabrication of conducting polymers for biomedical devices and presents novel processes that widen the application range of conducting polymers in this field. The thesis is divided in four chapters, namely "Materials and Methods", "Biocatalytically-produced polypyrrole thin films and microelectrodes on insulating surfaces", "Azide-PEDOT electrodes. Application to DNA sensors" and "Fabrication of polypyrrole single nanowire devices". Chapter 1, entitled "Materials and Methods", describes the materials used in this work and the fabrication and characterization methods required for the development of the thesis. Here, theoretical and experimental details about the techniques employed, are provided. Chapter 2, entitled "Biocatalytically-produced polypyrrole thin films and microelectrodes on insulating surfaces", presents a new on-surface biocatalytical procedure for the fabrication of polypyrrole microelectrodes on insulating surfaces, with resolutions comparable to the ones of conventional photolitography. This is an environmentally respectful microfabrication method that allows the entrapment of biomolecules during the polymer synthesis in a single step. As a proof of concept, biotin was trapped in the polypyrrole matrix and then released in a controlled way through electrical stimulation. It was proven that the polymer keeps its electroactivity after the fabrication and functionalization processes. This biocatalytical-based technique represents a straightforward method for the microfabrication of biological-active conducting polymers, which could be implemented in implantable devices for remotely controlled tissue interactions. Chapter 3, entitled "Azide-PEDOT electrodes. Application to DNA sensors", describes the fabrication and testing of an electrochemical label-free DNA hybridization sensor, based on novel azidomethyl-modified poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) electrodes (azide-PEDOT electrodes). These azide-PEDOT electrodes were used as platforms for the immobilization of acetylene-DNA probes, complementary to the "Hepatitis C" virus. The acetylene-DNA probes were covalently grafted to the polymer backbone via the robust "Click" reaction, which a part from being a very selective functionalization method, preserves DNA from denaturation during the synthesis of the polymer. DNA hybridization was detected by Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV), where the electrochemical change of the polymer behaviour, produced by the recognition event, was directly evaluated. This fabrication procedure is a powerful tool for the preparation of label-free DNA sensors able to selectively recognize a specific DNA sequence, down to the nanomolar range. Finally, Chapter 4, entitled "Fabrication of polypyrrole single nanowire devices", discusses the fabrication of polypyrrole at the nanoscale. Two fabrication techniques were investigated here, namely dip pen nanolithography and electrochemical polymerization on template-assisted surfaces. On one hand, the dip pen nanolithography proved to be a simple deposition technique with good control over size and location of the polypyrrole nanowires. On the other hand, the electrochemical polymerization on template-assisted surfaces provided as well nanoscaled polypyrrole, but added the possibility to chemically manipulate the polymer. This chemical manipulation was translated into polymer devices with different electrical properties. By the use of these techniques, the capability of fabricating single nanowire devices (ready to use in different applications) and arrays of ordered nanowires based on conducting polymers is demonstrated. Additionally, two appendixes can be found at the end of the thesis: Appendix A: "Fabrication of azide-PEDOT microwire-based devices" and Appendix B: "Fabrication of nanopatterns by electron-sensitive silanes". They provide short experimental results obtained during the course of this work, which are first steps for future investigations. A general conclusions section can be found at the end of the thesis, where a summary of the main achievements and contributions of this thesis are listed.