Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
Polymer semiconductors — materials that have been made soft and stretchy but still able to conduct electricity — hold promise for future electronics that can be integrated within the body, including disease detectors and health monitors.
Yet until now, scientists and engineers have been unable to give these polymers certain advanced features, like the ability to sense biochemicals, without disrupting their functionality altogether.
Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) have developed a new strategy to overcome that limitation. Called “click-to-polymer” or CLIP, this approach uses a chemical reaction to attach new functional units onto polymer semiconductors.
Using the new technique, researchers developed a polymer glucose monitoring device, demonstrating the possible applications of CLIP in human-integrated electronics. The results were published August 4 in the journal Matter.
“Semiconducting polymers are one of the most promising materials systems for wearable and implantable electronics,” said Asst. Prof. Sihong Wang, who led the research. “But we still need to add more functionality to be able to collect signals and administer therapies. Our method can work broadly to incorporate different types of functional groups, which we hope will lead to far-reaching leaps in the field.”
Functionalizing polymers without decreasing their efficacy
To achieve new functionalities of these semiconducting polymers — also referred to as conjugated polymers — many researchers have previously tried to build them from scratch by incorporating advanced features into the molecular designs directly. But conventional procedures for doing this have failed, either because the molecules have been unable to withstand the conditions needed to attach them to the polymer chains, or because the synthesis process decreased their efficacy.
To overcome this, Wang, with graduate student Nan Li, developed the CLIP method, which uses a copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition to add functional units to a polymer. Because this “click reaction” happens after the polymer is created, it does not affect its initial properties much.
Not only that, the reaction could be used in bulk functionalization of the polymer and in surface functionalization — both essential for creating functional electronics.
A potentially game-changing system
To demonstrate the effectiveness of CLIP, the researchers attached units that could photo-pattern the polymer, important for designing circuits within the material. They also added functionality to directly sense biomolecules. Their biomolecule sensor used a glucose oxidase enzyme to detect glucose, which then causes changes to the polymer’s electrical conductance and amplifies the signal.
Now the group is building upon their success by adding other bio-active and biocompatible functionalities to these polymers, which Li says “has the potential of becoming a game-changing technology.”
“We hope researchers across the field will use our method to endow even more functionality into this material system and use them to develop the next generation of human-integrated electronics as a key tool in healthcare,” Wang said.
Original Article: Researchers discover new strategy for developing human-integrated electronics
More from: University of Chicago
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Human-integrated electronics
- Look: China's Latest EV Is A 'Connected' Car From Smartphone And Electronics Maker Xiaomi
Xiaomi, a well-known maker of smart consumer electronics in China, is joining the country's booming but crowded market for electric cars with a spor ...
- Sweat-Proof Wearables for Continuous Health Monitoring
Scientists at the City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) have created wearable electronics that are lightweight, stretchable, and have a 400-fold increase in sweat permeability. This allows for the ...
- Revolutionary biomimetic olfactory chips to enable advanced gas sensing and odor detection
A research team has addressed the long-standing challenge of creating artificial olfactory sensors with arrays of diverse high-performance gas sensors. Their newly developed biomimetic olfactory chips ...
- Researchers develop biomimetic olfactory chips to enable advanced gas sensing and odor detection
A research team led by the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has addressed the long-standing challenge of creating artificial olfactory sensors with ...
- China’s latest EV is a ‘connected’ car from smart phone and electronics maker Xiaomi
Xiaomi, a well-known maker of smart consumer electronics in China, is joining the country’s booming but crowded market for electric cars.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Human-integrated electronics
[google_news title=”” keyword=”human-integrated electronics” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Polymer semiconductors
- IDTechEx Explores Technology Trends in Dielectric Materials for Next Generation 2.5D and 3D Semiconductor Packaging
For 2.5D packaging, achieving high bandwidth relies on the redistribution layer (RDL) within the package, where features like Line/Space (L/S), via, and pad dimensions are important. However, ...
- Smartkem Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results
Smartkem (OTCQB: SMTK), the developer of a new class of semiconductor polymer transistors that have the capability of powering the next generation of displays, today provides a business update and ...
- Scientists develop ultra-thin semiconductor fibers that turn fabrics into wearable electronics
Scientists from NTU Singapore have developed ultra-thin semiconductor fibers that can be woven into fabrics, turning them into smart wearable electronics. Their work has been published in the journal ...
- 7 Superstar Semiconductor Stocks to Buy in March
Not all semiconductor stocks are equal. While there are some real dogs out there, the market has also blessed us with some outstanding semiconductor stocks to buy that are absolute superstars for ...
- New Polymer Improves Perovskite Solar Cell Performance
Reviewed by Lexie Corner Lithuanian chemists at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) created a novel substance for perovskite solar cells. It may be employed as a hole-carrying layer in standard and ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Polymer semiconductors
[google_news title=”” keyword=”polymer semiconductors” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]