Protein-Based Bioelectronics

Maria Torculas; Jethro Medina; Wei Xue; Xiao Hu

doi:10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00119

Protein-Based Bioelectronics

ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2016 Aug 8;2(8):1211-1223. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00119. Epub 2016 Jul 1.

Authors

Maria Torculas¹, Jethro Medina², Wei Xue³, Xiao Hu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Departments of Physics and Astronomy, ‡Electrical and Computer Engineering, ∇Mechanical Engineering, §Chemical Engineering, ∥Biomedical and Translational Sciences, and ⊥Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, New Jersey 08028, United States.
² Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Electrical and Computer Engineering, ∇Mechanical Engineering, §Chemical Engineering, ∥Biomedical and Translational Sciences, and ⊥Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, New Jersey 08028, United States.
³ Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, §Chemical Engineering, ∥Biomedical and Translational Sciences, and ⊥Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, New Jersey 08028, United States.
⁴ Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, ∥Biomedical and Translational Sciences, and ⊥Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, New Jersey 08028, United States.

PMID: 33465848
DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00119

Abstract

The desire for flexible electronics is booming, and development of bioelectronics for health monitoring, internal body procedures, and other biomedical applications is heavily responsible for the growing market. Most current fabrication techniques for flexible bioelectronics, however, do not use materials that optimize both biocompatibility and mechanical properties. This Review explores flexible electronic technologies, fabrication methods, and protein materials for biomedical applications. With favorable sustainability and biocompatibility, naturally derived proteins are an exceptional alternative to synthetic materials currently used. Many proteins can take on various forms, such as fibers, films, and scaffolds. The fabrication of resistors and organic solar cells on silk has already been proven, and optoelectronics made of collagen and keratin have also been explored. The flexibility and biocompatibility of these materials along with their proven performance in electronics make them ideal materials in the advancement of biomedical devices.

Keywords: collagen; elastin; flexible electronics; keratin; protein substrate; silk.