3D printed architected conducting polymer hydrogels

Abstract

Rationally designed, 3D-printed architectures can effectively decouple the mechanical and electrical properties of conducting polymer hydrogels.

Recent advances in the 3D printing of electrically conductive hydrogels for flexible electronics

“…The fabricated Z-gels were demonstrated to exhibit excellent antifouling properties, and a low amount of bovine serum albumin was absorbed. Recently, Jordan et al 58 manipulated the properties of the conductive hydrogel through architecture design, rather than polymer chemical composition, and applied a stereolithography 3D printing method to fabricate these complex lattice structures. Fig.…”

3D Printing Technologies in Biosensors Production: Recent Developments

“…In this way, 3D-printed transfer molding permits an increase in the adaptability of multilayer microfluidics, allowing a multiplexed approach to molecular sensing applications. A stereolithography 3D printing method was used by Jordan et al [51] to successfully fabricate conductive hydrogels with enhanced mechanical properties and complex lattice geometry using polyaniline (PANI) as the conducting polymer. The authors customized a commercial stereolithography printer to obtain an optimized platform that was able to print hydrogels with improved elastic compress-ibility, reduced fragility, enhanced mechanical and electrical stability through repeated cycling of usage, and remarkable compression resistance and flexibility in comparison with previously manufactured hydrogels composed of the same chemical components.…”

“…This work exploited the optimization of the structural design to overcome the limitations of chemical composition-based methods. The innovative physical properties acquired by the printed hydrogels broadened the suitability of these materials for new applications, where dynamic movement and significant structural deformations are required [51].…”

3D‐Printed Electroactive Hydrogel Architectures with Sub‐100 µm Resolution Promote Myoblast Viability

“…[3,17] One of the most significant challenges in the current conductive hydrogel landscape is achieving and maintaining structural control of fine (<200 μm) features, an important requirement in soft bioelectronics and robotics, where the function of a device is highly dependent on its morphological stability. [7,18] Conductive polymer incorporation in 3D printed hydrogels generally relies on in-situ polymerization rather than a direct polymer blending approach, as conjugated monomers can more easily diffuse throughout the hydrogel matrix. [6] Such systems, however, are limited to large features (500 μm-1000 μm) and are often too brittle to function reliably.…”

“…[6] Such systems, however, are limited to large features (500 μm-1000 μm) and are often too brittle to function reliably. [18,19] A reproducible method to generate conductive features at fine (<200 μm) size scales would not only be useful for mechanistic investigations but would also enable the development of more effective advanced bioelectronic systems such as neural probes or other sensing technologies.…”