PEDOT:PSS-based intrinsically soft and stretchable bioelectronics

Abstract

Intrinsically soft and stretchable bioelectronics exhibit tissue-like mechanical behavior that enables the seamless integration of electronic devices with the human body to achieve high-quality biosignal recording and high-efficacy neural modulation. The conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) shows significant promise in this field because of its high conductivity, excellent biocompatibility and commercial availability. However, pristine PEDOT:PSS is brittle and rigid and thus cannot be used in soft and stretchable electronics. More effort is therefore required to engineer PEDOT:PSS into a stretchable conductor that meets the demands of bioelectronics. In this perspective, we review the recent progress and propose the possible future directions of PEDOT:PSS-based bioelectronics.

Keywords

PEDOT:PSS / bioelectronics / stretchability / electrical conductivity

References

[1] Yuk H,Zhao X.Hydrogel bioelectronics.Chem Soc Rev2019;48:1642-67

[2] Rivnay J,Collins BA.Structural control of mixed ionic and electronic transport in conducting polymers.Nat Commun2016;7:11287 PMCID:PMC4838877

[3] Shi H,Jiang Q.Effective approaches to improve the electrical conductivity of PEDOT:PSS: a review.Adv Electron Mater2015;1:1500017

[4] Li G,Wang Y.PEDOT:PSS/Grafted-PDMS electrodes for fully organic and intrinsically stretchable skin-like electronics.ACS Appl Mater Interfaces2019;11:10373-9

[5] Wang Y,Pfattner R.A highly stretchable, transparent, and conductive polymer.Sci Adv2017;3:e1602076 PMCID:PMC5345924

[6] Jiang Y,Wang YX.Topological supramolecular network enabled high-conductivity, stretchable organic bioelectronics.Science2022;375:1411-7

[7] Tan P,Xiao F.Solution-processable, soft, self-adhesive, and conductive polymer composites for soft electronics.Nat Commun2022;13:358 PMCID:PMC8766561

[8] Lu B,Lin S.Pure PEDOT:PSS hydrogels.Nat Commun2019;10:1043 PMCID:PMC6401010

[9] Yuk H,Lin S.3D printing of conducting polymers.Nat Commun2020;11:1604 PMCID:PMC7105462

[10] Liu Y,Chen S.Soft and elastic hydrogel-based microelectronics for localized low-voltage neuromodulation.Nat Biomed Eng2019;3:58-68

[11] Li G,Deng J.Highly conducting and stretchable double-network hydrogel for soft bioelectronics.Adv Mater2022;34:e2200261

[12] Liang X,Lin S.Anisotropically fatigue-resistant hydrogels.Adv Mater2021;33:e2102011