Biodegradable Polymeric Materials in Degradable Electronic Devices

Abstract

Biodegradable electronics have great potential to reduce the environmental footprint of devices and enable advanced health monitoring and therapeutic technologies. Complex biodegradable electronics require biodegradable substrates, insulators, conductors, and semiconductors, all of which comprise the fundamental building blocks of devices. This review will survey recent trends in the strategies used to fabricate biodegradable forms of each of these components. Polymers that can disintegrate without full chemical breakdown (type I), as well as those that can be recycled into monomeric and oligomeric building blocks (type II), will be discussed. Type I degradation is typically achieved with engineering and material science based strategies, whereas type II degradation often requires deliberate synthetic approaches. Notably, unconventional degradable linkages capable of maintaining long-range conjugation have been relatively unexplored, yet may enable fully biodegradable conductors and semiconductors with uncompromised electrical properties. While substantial progress has been made in developing degradable device components, the electrical and mechanical properties of these materials must be improved before fully degradable complex electronics can be realized.

Bioresorbable Materials on the Rise: From Electronic Components and Physical Sensors to In Vivo Monitoring Systems

“…Bioresorbable polymers are mostly employed as substrate support for degradable devices and systems . Compared to all the above‐discussed materials, polymeric materials offer higher flexibility in tuning the dissolution timescale.…”

Bioinspired Prosthetic Interfaces

“…However, due to the mechanical incompliance and the possibility of toxicity of inorganic materials, biodegradable polymers based on naturally derived polymers and synthetic polymers became the field of intensive study . In a recent review reported by Feig et al, taking an example of a typical transistor structure, it provided thorough materials design considerations for the individual degradable components, including but not limited to electrodes (e.g., corrodible metals such as Fe and Mg), substrates (e.g., polylactic‐co‐glycolic acid (PLGA)), dielectrics (e.g., poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS)) and semiconductor films . With the wide choices of materials to achieve degradability, research on transient wearable and skin‐like electronics are expected to burgeon.…”

“…[135,136] In a recent review reported by Feig et al, taking an example of a typical transistor structure, it provided thorough materials design considerations for the individual degradable components, including but not limited to electrodes (e.g., corrodible metals such as Fe and Mg), substrates (e.g., polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA)), dielectrics (e.g., poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS)) and semiconductor films. [137] With the wide choices of materials to achieve degradability, research on transient wearable and skin-like electronics are expected to burgeon. For example, adopting a typical piezoresistive sensor-based structure, the pressure sensor composed of degradable tissue paper and polylactide (PLA) substrate was shown in Figure 9d,e.…”

Integration of Biomaterials into Sensors Based on Organic Thin‐Film Transistors

“…OSCs with π‐conjugated structure, such as pentacene, poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT), and poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS), were successfully synthesized and extensively applied in organic electronics for physical, chemical, and biological sensing . To realize active response to the external stimuli by OSCs, the organic thin‐film transistor (OTFT) architecture has been favorably adopted, resulting in enhanced responsivity due to the field‐effect amplification, excellent sensitivity, long‐term stability, appealing biodegradability, and mechanical flexibility . Based on the device architectures and operation principles, OTFTs can be categorized into two types, namely, organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) and organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) .…”

“…[8][9][10] To realize active response to the external stimuli by OSCs, the organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) architecture has been favorably adopted, resulting in enhanced responsivity due to the field-effect amplification, excellent sensitivity, long-term stability, appealing biodegradability, and mechanical flexibility. [11][12][13][14] Based on the device architectures and operation principles, OTFTs can be categorized into two types, namely, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) and organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). [8,15] OFET-based sensors based on biopolymers including PLA, cellulose, PDMS, and parylene to realize various applications in physical signals sensing and mechanical recognition.…”