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The rise of plastic bioelectronics

Nature volume 540, pages 379–385 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Plastic bioelectronics is a research field that takes advantage of the inherent properties of polymers and soft organic electronics for applications at the interface of biology and electronics. The resulting electronic materials and devices are soft, stretchable and mechanically conformable, which are important qualities for interacting with biological systems in both wearable and implantable devices. Work is currently aimed at improving these devices with a view to making the electronic–biological interface as seamless as possible.

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Figure 1: The diversity of plastic bioelectronics.
Figure 2: Soft electronic polymers for plastic bioelectronics can be stretchable, biodegradable and have self-healing properties.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge R. Nawrocki for fruitful discussions and J. Xu for help with formatting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Takao Someya

  2. Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Riken, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan

    Takao Someya

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Zhenan Bao

  4. Department of Bioelectronics, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines, CMP-EMSE, MOC, Gardanne, 13541, France

    George G. Malliaras

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Correspondence to Takao Someya.

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Someya, T., Bao, Z. & Malliaras, G. The rise of plastic bioelectronics. Nature 540, 379–385 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21004

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