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Electrically conductive biogel for inkjet printer

16.07.2012

Researchers from Stanford University reported in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they have created an electrically conductive gel that can be applied to surfaces using an inkjet printer. According to scientists, it is a hydrogel that looks and behaves like biological tissue, but is able to conduct electricity like a metal or semiconductor.

Associate professors Zhe Nan Bao and Yi Kui, who lead the development, created their gel by linking long polymer chains of aniline with phytic acid, which is part of plant tissue. Its molecules are able to bind to six polymer chains at once, creating a complex three-dimensional web from them.

Commercially available conductive polymers are homogeneous films devoid of any nanostructure, while the material created by the Stanford group is like a sponge filled with many nanopores. This nanostructure, which greatly increases the total surface area of the gel, increases the amount of electrical charge it can hold, enhances its ability to "feel" chemical compounds, and dramatically speeds up its electrical response to an external field.

The simplicity and low cost of preparation, as well as the ability to apply it to surfaces with an inkjet printer, make this gel commercially available now and very attractive to manufacturers who want to create electrodes of complex designs at a cheap price.

Most hydrogels are not electrically conductive, however, phytic acid not only binds polymer chains, but also endows them with a charge, imparting high electrical conductivity, the ability to hold a very high charge, etc. The fact that this material is similar to biological tissue may allow biological systems to communicate through him with various technological equipment. The range of its possible applications, scientists say, is unusually wide - from medical probes and laboratory biosensors to biological fuel cells and super-powerful energy storages of the future.

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Artificial embryos causing pregnancy 04.05.2018

Researchers from the University of Maastricht and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences have created artificial embryos that even induce pregnancy in mice.

The early stages of pregnancy are essential for the development of the fetus into a healthy baby. And there is a problem here, since doctors still do not know how to eliminate fetal problems at such an early stage of development. They simply cannot see what happens to the embryo immediately after fertilization and, of course, cannot develop drugs to solve any problems associated with it.

Why is the discovery of Dutch scientists important in this context? In mammals, a few days after fertilization of the egg, a blastocyte appears - a hollow sphere of less than 100 cells. In the uterus, the cells inside the blastocyte form the embryo, and the cells in the outer layer of the sphere (trophoblasts) become the placenta.

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Since researchers can mass-produce blastoids from stem cells, scientists can thus find cures for infertility and better contraceptives, as well as eliminate possible congenital diseases at the earliest stages of development.

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