Low-impedance Tetrodes using Carbon Nanotube-Polypyrrole Composite Deposition

Abstract

A tetrode is one of the neural electrodes, and it is widely used to record neural signals in the brain of a freely moving animal. The impedance of a neural electrode is an important parameter because it determines the signal-to-noise ratio of the recorded neural signals. Here, we developed a modification technique using carbon nanotube-polypyrrole composite nanostructures to decrease the impedances of tetrodes. The synthesis of the carbon nanotube and polypyrrole nanostructures was performed in two steps. In the first step, randomly dispersed carbon nanotubes and pyrrole monomers were gathered and aligned on the tetrode electrode. Next, they were electro-polymerized on the electrode surface. As the applied time (step-1 and step-2) and the offset voltage increased, the impedances of the tetrodes decreased. The modification technique is, therefore, an important and useful of lowering the impedances of tetrodes.