Premium
Electrically Controlled Click‐Chemistry for Assembly of Bioactive Hydrogels on Diverse Micro‐ and Flexible Electrodes
Author(s) -
Da Silva Aruã Clayton,
Akbar Teuku Fawzul,
Paterson Thomas Edward,
Werner Carsten,
Tondera Christoph,
Minev Ivan Rusev
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.202200557
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , click chemistry , ethylene glycol , materials science , nanotechnology , electrode , electrolyte , electrochemistry , maleimide , flexible electronics , conductive polymer , tissue engineering , chemical engineering , polymer , polymer chemistry , chemistry , composite material , biology , engineering , genetics
The seamless integration of electronics with living matter requires advanced materials with programmable biological and engineering properties. Here electrochemical methods to assemble semi‐synthetic hydrogels directly on electronically conductive surfaces are explored. Hydrogels consisting of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) and heparin building blocks are polymerized by spatially controlling the click reaction between their thiol and maleimide moieties. The gels are grown as conformal coatings or 2D patterns on ITO, gold, and PtIr. This study demonstrates that such coatings significantly influence the electrochemical properties of the metal‐electrolyte interface, likely due to space charge effects in the gels. Further a promising route toward engineering and electrically addressable extracellular matrices by printing arrays of gels with binary cell adhesiveness on flexible conductive surfaces is highlighted.