Aqueous electrolyte-gated solution-processed metal oxide transistors for direct cellular interfaces

Dong-Hee Kang; Jun-Gyu Choi; Won-June Lee; Dongmi Heo; Sungrok Wang; Sungjun Park; Myung-Han Yoon

doi:10.1063/5.0138861

Aqueous electrolyte-gated solution-processed metal oxide transistors for direct cellular interfaces

APL Bioeng. 2023 Apr 10;7(2):026102. doi: 10.1063/5.0138861. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Dong-Hee Kang¹, Jun-Gyu Choi¹, Won-June Lee¹, Dongmi Heo¹, Sungrok Wang¹, Sungjun Park², Myung-Han Yoon¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea.
² Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Biocompatible field-effect-transistor-based biosensors have drawn attention for the development of next-generation human-friendly electronics. High-performance electronic devices must achieve low-voltage operation, long-term operational stability, and biocompatibility. Herein, we propose an electrolyte-gated thin-film transistor made of large-area solution-processed indium-gallium-zinc oxide (IGZO) semiconductors capable of directly interacting with live cells at physiological conditions. The fabricated transistors exhibit good electrical performance operating under sub-0.5 V conditions with high on-/off-current ratios (>10⁷) and transconductance (>1.0 mS) over an extended operational lifetime. Furthermore, we verified the biocompatibility of the IGZO surface to various types of mammalian cells in terms of cell viability, proliferation, morphology, and drug responsiveness. Finally, the prolonged stable operation of electrolyte-gated transistor devices directly integrated with live cells provides the proof-of-concept for solution-processed metal oxide material-based direct cellular interfaces.