100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Soft Materials for Microbial Bioelectronics

Abstract

Bioelectronics brings together the fields of biology and microelectronics to create multifunctional devices with the potential to address longstanding technological challenges and change our way of life. Microbial electrochemical devices are a growing subset of bioelectronic devices that incorporate naturally occurring or synthetically engineered microbes into electronic devices and have broad applications including energy harvesting, chemical production, water remediation, and environmental and health monitoring. The goal of this Viewpoint is to highlight recent advances and ongoing challenges in the rapidly developing field of microbial bioelectronic devices, with an emphasis on materials challenges. We provide an overview of microbial bioelectronic devices, discuss the biotic−abiotic interface in these devices, and then present recent advances and ongoing challenges in materials related to electron transfer across the abiotic−biotic interface, microbial adhesion, redox signaling, electronic amplification, and device miniaturization. We conclude with a summary and perspective of the field of microbial bioelectronics.

The effect of side chain engineering on conjugated polymers in organic electrochemical transistors for bioelectronic applications

“…Homogenous materials support bidirectional electronic and ionic charge transport either in a single material or in a materials blend, whilst heterogeneous type refers to the segregated regions of exclusively ionic or electronic transport. 15 The work-horse OECT material, which has found numerous bioelectronic applications, is PEDOT:PSS. PEDOT:PSS is a p-type depletion mode channel material, whereby application of the positive potential at the gate electrode of an OECT leads to cation injection and, consequently, to PEDOT:PSS dedoping.…”

“…To address these divergences and merge them in an efficient bioelectronic device, the development of new materials, state-of-the-art device architectures, and appropriate power sources is essential. 15 The result of this merging is a bioelectronic interface, capable of bidirectional recognition of biological signals (e.g., cells, organs, tissues) induced by the change in electronic or ionic charge transport. 16 Many applications have arisen as a result of the development of new bioelectronic interfaces: cell culture, 17 biomedical diagnosis, 18 electrophysiological stimulation 19 to name but a few (Fig.…”

“…Creating this connection is associated with a handful of difficulties, related to the fundamental differences in the operational modes and material features of human-made and nature-created structures. 15 For instance, while biosystems tend to use ionic and molecular forms for information transfer, electrons and holes serve that role in artificial electronic systems. Typically, hydrophobic electronic devices are composed of rigid counterparts, while water-friendly biological systems are known to be flexible and soft.…”

Synthetic biology 2020–2030: six commercially-available products that are changing our world

“…After 2030, products will shift to systems, where cells are designed to work together or be integrated into non-living materials or electronics 102 . In agriculture, functions could be distributed across the engineered plant and bacteria symbioses designed to interlock and communicate with each other and with UAVs, receiving information and sending signals to control gene expression in response 103 , 104 .…”

“…To preserve infrastructure, engineered consortia in paints could prevent ship hull biofouling and reduce pipeline corrosion, or they sprayed on soil to stabilize airfield soils 58 , 105 . Coupling engineered living cells with electronics facilitates brain-computer interfaces and robots that use living sensors for navigation or to generate energy from their environment 102 . Fully realizing this capability requires design tools that are so reliable that millions of variants do not have to be screened and prototyping strategies that extend beyond titer measurements, that can evaluate performance in simulated real-world environments.…”