Laboratory for Atomistic and Molecular Mechanics (LAMM), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 1-290, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
Adv Mater. 2019 Nov;31(44):e1904720. doi: 10.1002/adma.201904720. Epub 2019 Sep 18.
There is great interest in developing conductive biomaterials for the manufacturing of sensors or flexible electronics with applications in healthcare, tracking human motion, or in situ strain measurements. These biomaterials aim to overcome the mismatch in mechanical properties at the interface between typical rigid semiconductor sensors and soft, often uneven biological surfaces or tissues for in vivo and ex vivo applications. Here, the use of biobased carbons to fabricate conductive, highly stretchable, flexible, and biocompatible silk-based composite biomaterials is demonstrated. Biobased carbons are synthesized via hydrothermal processing, an aqueous thermochemical method that converts biomass into a carbonaceous material that can be applied upon activation as conductive filler in composite biomaterials. Experimental synthesis and full-atomistic molecular dynamics modeling are combined to synthesize and characterize these conductive composite biomaterials, made entirely from renewable sources and with promising applications in fields like biomedicine, energy, and electronics.
人们对于开发用于制造传感器或柔性电子产品的导电生物材料很感兴趣，这些应用包括医疗保健、追踪人体运动或现场应变测量。这些生物材料旨在克服典型的刚性半导体传感器与用于体内和体外应用的柔软、常常不均匀的生物表面或组织之间的机械性能不匹配。在这里，展示了使用生物基碳来制造导电、高拉伸、灵活和生物相容的基于丝的复合生物材料。生物基碳是通过水热加工合成的，这是一种水热化学方法，可将生物质转化为碳质材料，该材料在经过激活后可用作复合生物材料中的导电填充料。实验合成和全原子分子动力学建模相结合，用于合成和表征这些完全由可再生资源制成的导电复合生物材料，这些材料在生物医学、能源和电子等领域具有广阔的应用前景。
