Viability of Neural Cells on 3D Printed Graphene Bioelectronics

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the United States after Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To help understand the electrophysiology of these diseases, N27 neuronal cells have been used as an in vitro model. In this study, a flexible graphene-based biosensor design is presented. Biocompatible graphene was manufactured using a liquid-phase exfoliation method and bovine serum albumin (BSA) for further exfoliation. Raman spectroscopy results indicated that the graphene produced was indeed few-layer graphene (FLG) with ID/IGGraphene= 0.11. Inkjet printing of this few-layer graphene ink onto Kapton polyimide (PI) followed by characterization via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed an average width of ≈868 µm with a normal thickness of ≈5.20 µm. Neuronal cells were placed on a thermally annealed 3D printed graphene chip. A live–dead cell assay was performed to prove the biosensor biocompatibility. A cell viability of approximately 80% was observed over 96 h, which indicates that annealed graphene on Kapton PI substrate could be used as a neuronal cell biosensor. This research will help us move forward with the study of N27 cell electrophysiology and electrical signaling.

High-Yield Production of Aqueous Graphene for Electrohydrodynamic Drop-on-Demand Printing of Biocompatible Conductive Patterns

“…In a recent study, our group observed that rat dopaminergic (N27) neuronal cells live compatibly and adhere to the graphene patterns ( Figure S4) in the biosensing platforms that are made based on the aforementioned methodology [45]. These cells are commonly used in vitro, as models for Parkinson's disease.…”

“…To end with, the resultant conductivity of the printed circuit is characterized, and its stability after submergence in water is exhibited. In another study by our group, the biofunctionalization of the biosensors produced via this process is exhibited [45].…”

Direct Ink Writing Technology (3D Printing) of Graphene-Based Ceramic Nanocomposites: A Review

“…Different studies on IJP with graphene-based inks have been carried out, mainly for applications in electronic, bioelectronic, and energy storage [ 185 , 186 , 187 , 188 , 189 , 190 ]. For example, Li et al reported an easy IJP method for the fabrication of micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) based on graphene and printed on various substrates.…”

Direct Ink Writing Technology (3D Printing) of Graphene-Based Ceramic Nanocomposites: A Review

“…practical way to stabilize the inks is to use GO or rGO together with surfactants that improve the dispersity of sheets [257,260,261,262], thereby it reduces the probability of agglomerate formation in graphene-based inks [257]. Different studies on IJP with graphene-based inks have been carried out, mainly for applications in electronic, bioelectronic, and energy storage [263][264][265][266][267][268]. For example, in 2017 Li et al [258] reported a simple full-inkjet-printing technique for the scalable fabrication of graphene-based microsupercapacitors (MSCs) on various substrates.…”