Printed Carbon-Based Biosensors for Diagnostic and Cell Cultures Probing

Printed carbon based electrolyte-gated transistors represent ideal ionic/electronic hybrid devices that bridge biology and electronics. These devices are being investigated for a wide range of applications, from drug delivery to neuromodulation and highly sensitive biosensing. Here we report our recent progress in printed devices based both on thin films of polymer semiconductors and randon-networks of carbon-nanotubes. In particular, we show how large-area printed arrays of electrolyte-gated polymer transistors can enable future diagnostic tools to target specific biomarkers at clinical level. At the same time we propose printed carbon-nanotubes as an alternative approach for highly stable biosensors operating in acqueous environment. Besides their use to target biomarkers, we also show how such printed carbon-based transistors can be employed to monitor cell cultures proliferation over consecutive days. Remarkably, we also demonstrate that, despite the planar geometry of the device, spontaneous recording of intracellular action potentials of cardiomyocytes can be detected. Such results show that printed carbon-based electrolyte-gated transistors have great potentials for many aspects of future large-area bioelectronics, including diagnostic and parallel probing of electrogenic cell cultures.