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. 2023 Jan 3;13(2):111-118.
doi: 10.1007/s13534-022-00257-5. eCollection 2023 May.

Polymer nanofiber network reinforced gold electrode array for neural activity recording

Siting Yang  1   2 , Ke Xu  1   2 , Shouliang Guan  1 , Liang Zou  1   2 , Lei Gao  1   2 , Jinfen Wang  1 , Huihui Tian  1 , Hui Li  3 , Ying Fang  1   2   4 , Hongbian Li  1
Affiliations

Polymer nanofiber network reinforced gold electrode array for neural activity recording

Siting Yang et al. Biomed Eng Lett. .

Abstract

Flexible and stretchable neural electrodes are promising tools for high-fidelity interfacing with soft and curvilinear brain surface. Here, we describe a flexible and stretchable neural electrode array that consists of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber network reinforced gold (Au) film electrodes. Under stretching, the interweaving PAN nanofibers effectively terminate the formation of propagating cracks in the Au films and thus enable the formation of a dynamically stable electrode-tissue interface. Moreover, the PAN nanofibers increase the surface roughness and active surface areas of the Au electrodes, leading to reduced electrochemical impedance and improved signal-to-noise ratio. As a result, PAN nanofiber network reinforced Au electrode arrays can allow for reliable in vivo multichannel recording of epileptiform activities in rats.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13534-022-00257-5.

Keywords: Brain ativity; Electrocorticography; Epileptiform; Impedance; Nanofiber network.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Structure and mechanical properties of the PAN-Au hybrid films. a A free-standing PAN-Au hybrid film floating on the surface of water. b–d SEM images of the PAN-Au hybrid film at different magnifications. e SEM image of the PAN-Au hybrid film at a tensile strain of 10%. f Comparison of the electromechanical property between a planar Au/PDMS film and a PAN-Au hybrid film on PDMS substrate
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Structure of the microelectrode array with PAN-Au hybrid films as both recording electrodes and the traces. a Schematic illustration of one microelectrode with PAN-Au hybrid film as the recording electrode and the trace. b Optical image of a 32-channel microelectrode array after being released from the substrate. Scale bar: 600 μm. c A photo of the flexible microelectrode array floating on the surface of water. d SEM image of a PAN-Au hybrid electrode after a naturally drying process. e, f Magnified SEM images of the PAN-Au hybrid film at the center and edge of a recording electrode
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Electrochemical impedance of the PAN-Au hybrid microelectrodes. a Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of a PAN-Au hybrid microelectrode and a planar Au microelectrode measured in PBS. b Averaged impedance of PAN-Au hybrid microelectrodes and planar Au microelectrodes
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
In vivo neural activity recordings with PAN-Au hybrid electrodes. a The flexible microelectrode array conforms to the surface of the rat brain. Scale bar: 600 μm. b Real-time recording of LFP waveforms. c Time–frequency spectrogram power analysis. d Enlarged view of neural signals recorded during different periods. e Simultaneous multichannel recordings of epileptiform activity with the PAN-Au hybrid electrode array
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