A new hydrogel semiconductor from the University of Chicago offers a groundbreaking solution for bioelectronics, blending tissue-like properties with high electronic functionality, enhancing medical device integration and effectiveness.
The perfect material for interfacing electronics with living tissue is soft, stretchable, and as water-loving as the tissue itself, making hydrogels an ideal choice. In contrast, semiconductors, the key materials for bioelectronics such as pacemakers, biosensors, and drug delivery devices, are rigid, brittle, and hydrophobic, making them impossible to dissolve in the way hydrogels have traditionally been built.
In a new study published in Science, scientists from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have overcome this long-standing barrier by innovating the way hydrogels are created to build a powerful semiconductor in hydrogel form. Led by Asst. Prof. Sihong Wang’s research group, the result is a bluish gel that undulates in water like a jellyfish yet maintains the immense semiconductive ability required to transmit information between living tissue and electronic devices.
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