Enzymatically Polymerized Organic Conductors on Model Membranes

Seamless integration between biological systems and electrical components is essential for enabling a twinned biochemical-electric therapy approach to combat neurological disorders. Employing bioelectronic systems made up of conjugated polymers with their innate ability of transporting both electronic and ionic charges, provides the possibility of such an integration. In particular, translating the recently published results of enzymatically polymerized conductive wires, from a plant system into an animal model, is of particular interest for the development of next generation devices that can record and monitor neural signals. As a first step for achieving this, enzyme-mediated polymerization of two thiophene-based trimers in the presence of an oxidant is demonstrated on a synthetic phospholipid bilayer supported on an Au surface. Microgravimetric studies indicate good adherence of the <i>in situ</i> polymerized layer to the underlying substrate. Moreover, estimated specific capacitances and modelled Young’s modulii of these self-organizing conducting polymers suggest their potential as implantable neural devices or even novel therapeutics.