Integrated bioelectronic proton-gated logic elements utilizing nanoscale patterned Nafion

Mater Horiz. 2021 Jan 1;8(1):224-233. doi: 10.1039/d0mh01070g. Epub 2020 Nov 9.

Abstract

A central endeavour in bioelectronics is the development of logic elements to transduce and process ionic to electronic signals. Motivated by this challenge, we report fully monolithic, nanoscale logic elements featuring n- and p-type nanowires as electronic channels that are proton-gated by electron-beam patterned Nafion. We demonstrate inverter circuits with state-of-the-art ion-to-electron transduction performance giving DC gain exceeding 5 and frequency response up to 2 kHz. A key innovation facilitating the logic integration is a new electron-beam process for patterning Nafion with linewidths down to 125 nm. This process delivers feature sizes compatible with low voltage, fast switching elements. This expands the scope for Nafion as a versatile patternable high-proton-conductivity element for bioelectronics and other applications requiring nanoengineered protonic membranes and electrodes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Fluorocarbon Polymers
  • Logic
  • Nanowires*
  • Protons*

Substances

  • Fluorocarbon Polymers
  • Protons
  • perfluorosulfonic acid