Carbon microelectromechanical systems as a substratum for cell growth

Abstract

The study of the biocompatible properties of carbon microelectromechanical systems (carbon-MEMS) shows that this new microfabrication technique is a promising approach to create novel platforms for the study of cell physiology. Four different types of substrates were tested, namely, carbon-MEMS on silicon and quartz wafers, indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass and oxygen-plasma-treated carbon thin films. Two cell lines, murine dermal fibroblasts and neuroblastoma spinal cord hybrid cells (NSC-34) were plated onto the substrates. Both cell lines showed preferential adhesion to the selectively plasma-treated regions in carbon films. Atomic force microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses demonstrated that the oxygen-plasma treatment modifies the physical and chemical properties of carbon, thereby enhancing the adsorption of extracellular matrix-forming proteins on its surface. This accounts for the differential adhesion of cells on the plasma-treated areas. As compared to the methods reported to date, this technique achieves alignment of the cells on the carbon electrodes without relying on direct patterning of surface molecules. The results will be used in the future design of novel biochemical sensors, drug screening systems and basic cell physiology research devices.

On‐line separation of bacterial cells by carbon‐electrode dielectrophoresis

“…Although the electrical conductivity of glass-like carbon [17] is lower than that of metals, suitable electric fields for DEP can be generated by polarizing carbon electrodes with voltages in the range of tens of volts instead of the hundreds or thousands of volts between metal plates required in iDEP. The use of carbon electrodes yields other advantages: (i) excellent biocompatibility [18,19], (ii) chemically very inert in almost all solvents/electrolytes [20,21], and (iii) excellent mechanical properties [22]. In this study, the use of 3-D structures that cover most of the height of a flow channel that greatly improves filter throughput by reducing the mean distance of any particle to the closest electrode surface.…”

A novel approach to dielectrophoresis using carbon electrodes

“…In fact, glass-like carbon, also known as glassy carbon (The IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) has suggested the use of the term glass-like carbon to refer to carbonaceous materials derived through the pyrolysis of organic polymers. Glass-like carbon is preferred over glassy or vitreous carbon since both have been previously introduced as trademarks [36] and is a preferred material among electrochemists due to its remarkable stability [10][11][12][13][14]; (ii) glass-like carbon has excellent biocompatibility and has been demonstrated both as an implantable material [15] and as substratum for cell culture [16]; (iii) glass-like carbon is also chemically very inert in almost all solvents/electrolytes. Remarkably, it withstands attack from strong acids such as nitric, sulfuric, hydrofluoric or chromic and other corrosive agents such as bromine [17]; and (iv) glass-like carbon has good mechanical properties with a hardness of 6-7 on Mohs' scale, a value comparable to that of quartz, and a Young's modulus in the range between 10 and 40 GPa (compared to 168 GPa of platinum, 79 GPa of gold and 65-90 GPa for common glass) [18].…”

Optimization of Carbon Electrodes Derived from Epoxy-based Photoresist

“…In this contribution we report on the optimization of the fabrication of C-MEMS electrodes that may be employed for biological applications, 26,27 chemical sensing 28 and microbatteries. 29 Moreover for the first time, we apply pyrolyzed photoresist electrodes for the analysis of heavy metals ions.…”