Natural Wax for Transient Electronics |
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| Authors: | Sang Min Won Jahyun Koo Kaitlyn E Crawford Aaron D Mickle Yeguang Xue Seunghwan Min Lisa A McIlvried Ying Yan Sung Bong Kim Seung Min Lee Bong Hoon Kim Hokyung Jang Matthew R MacEwan Yonggang Huang Robert W Gereau IV John A Rogers |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA;2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA;3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA;4. Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University Pain Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA;5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA;6. Department of Neurological Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA;7. Center for Bio‐Integrated Electronics, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Neurological Surgery, Simpson Querrey Institute for Nano/biotechnology, McCormick School of Engineering and Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA |
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| Abstract: | Emerging classes of bioresorbable electronic materials serve as the basis for active biomedical implants that are capable of providing sensing, monitoring, stimulating, and other forms of function over an operating period matched to biological processes such as wound healing. These platforms are of interest because subsequent dissolution, enzymatic degradation, and/or bioresorption can eliminate the need for surgical extraction. This report introduces natural wax materials as long‐lived, hydrophobic encapsulation layers for such systems, where biodegradation eventually occurs by chain scission. Studies of wax stability as an encapsulation material demonstrate the ability to retain operation of underlying biodegradable electronic systems for durations between a few days to a few weeks during complete immersion in aqueous solutions in ex‐vivo physiological conditions. Electrically conductive composites result from the addition of tungsten micro/nanoparticles, as a conductive, printable paste with similar lifetimes. Demonstrations of these materials in partially biodegradable wireless light‐emitting diodes and near‐field communication circuits illustrate their use in functional bioresorbable electronic systems. Investigations in animal models reveal no signs of toxicity or other adverse biological responses. |
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| Keywords: | bioresorbable electronics bioresorbable polymers conductive composites encapsulation wax |
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