Self-healable Printed Electronic Cryogels for Plant Monitoring

Abstract

In this work, we present a novel method for integrating printed electronic materials with biocompatible cryogels to form stable, implantable hydrogel-based bioelectronic devices that show stable long-term operation inside plant tissue. The gels can be customized to provide various electronic functionalities, including electrodes and organic electrochemical transistors (OECT). These inkjet printed cryogel-based devices exhibit high electrical conductivity for embedded conductive polymer traces (up to 350 S/cm), high transconductance for OECTs (in the mS range), and high capacitance in capacitive structures (up to 4.2 mF.g-1). These devices also show high stretchability (up to 330% strain), and self-healing properties. The biocompatible functionalized gel-based electrodes and transistors were successfully implanted in plant tissue. Ionic activity in tomato plants was collected for over two months with minimal scar tissue formation observed over this time, making these cryogel-based electronic devices excellent candidates for continuous, in-situ monitoring of plant and environmental status and health.