Stretchable Tissue-Like Gold Nanowire Composites with Long-Term Stability for Neural Interfaces

Abstract

Soft and stretchable nanocomposites can match the mechanical properties of neural tissue, thereby minimizing foreign body reactions to provide optimal stimulation and recording specificity. Soft materials for neural interfaces should simultaneously fulfill a wide range of requirements, including low Young's modulus (<<1 MPa), stretchability (≥30%), high conductivity (>> 1000 S cm^-1), biocompatibility, and chronic stability (>> 1 year). Current nanocomposites do not fulfill the above requirements, in particular not the combination of softness and high conductivity. Here, this challenge is addressed by developing a scalable and robust synthesis route based on polymeric reducing agents for smooth, high-aspect ratio gold nanowires (AuNWs) of controllable dimensions with excellent biocompatibility. AuNW-silicone composites show outstanding performance with nerve-like softness (250 kPa), high conductivity (16 000 S cm^-1), and reversible stretchability. Soft multielectrode cuffs based on the composite achieve selective functional stimulation, recordings of sensory stimuli in rat sciatic nerves, and show an accelerated lifetime stability of >3 years. The scalable synthesis method provides a chemically stable alternative to the widely used AgNWs, thereby enabling new applications within electronics, biomedical devices, and electrochemistry.

Keywords: cuff electrodes; gold nanowires; neural interfaces; soft electronics; stretchable electronics.