Electrochemical Polymerization of PEDOT/Biomolecule Composite Films on Microelectrodes for the Measurement of Extracellular Field Potential

Abstract

Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) are very powerful sensor devices for the non-invasive measurement of extracellular field potentials from excited cells. In this study, new types of interfaces were developed on MEAs by exploiting the electrochemical polymerization of conducting polymers with biomolecules. The composite films were composed of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophen) (PEDOT) and anionic polysaccharide (gellan gum). The PEDOT/biomolecule composite films had no cytotoxic effect, and reduced the electrode impedance at 1 kHz to 8.84 + 0.50 kΩ. This biointerface enabled us to record extracellular field potentials derived from the spontaneous beating of cardiomyocytes.

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) Derivatives: Innovative Conductive Polymers for Bioelectronics

“…Although PEDOT:PSS has proven to be an appropriate material for cell culture [ 102 , 106 ], the aim is to provide an environment that stimulates and persuades cell growth [ 105 ]. The first attempts to synthetize PEDOT doped by biopolymers was pioneered by Inganäs et al by the electropolymerization of EDOT in the presence of biomolecules (heparin, hyaluronic acid, fibrinogen, gellan gum, carboxymethyl cellulose, xanthan gum, pectin and gellan gum) [ 107 , 108 , 109 ] showing their potential due to their non-toxicity [ 37 ] and finding applications as electrode interfaces for cell recordings [ 105 , 108 ]. Inspired by these polymer composites formed by PEDOT, different water-based PEDOT:biopolymer dispersions have been more recently synthetized by different groups using chemical polymerization.…”