Novel Direct Patterning of Conducting Polymer Films
ID# 2013-4171
Technology Summary
This novel process generates high-fidelity conducting
polymer(CP) films via electropolymerization through
hydrogels. The invention relies on topographically-patterned
biocompatible absorbent materials to deliver solutions to selected
areas of the electrode’s surface. This solution-free technique produced
high-fidelity film patterns of CPs with various geometrical shapes ranging from
40 microns to 1mm. The inventors extended the technique to fabricate patterned
polymeric films with multiple chemistries in specifically targeted spots. These results confirm that this technique can deliver multiple distinct dopants and produce patterned CP films with various chemistries and properties on the same substrate in a single-step procedure.
Application & Market Utility
The invention’s scalability allows for rapid and efficient fabrication of a large number of patterned CP films. The inventors extended the process to produce patterned CP films with entrapped bioactive molecules. The inventors also showed that a single hydrogel stamp can deliver multiple dopants in parallel and thus generate patterned CP films with multiple surface chemistries in a rapid single-step process. This simple, readily-accessible method has potential applications for cell and tissue engineering, biomaterials, biosensing and bioelectronics.
Next Steps
Seeking licensing opportunities.