Instituto de Telecomunicações and Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 10;12(1):307. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03948-8.
The electrical double layer (EDL) formed at the interface between various materials and an electrolyte has been studied for a long time. In particular, the EDL formed at metal/electrolyte interfaces is central in electrochemistry, with a plethora of applications ranging from corrosion to batteries to sensors. The discovery of highly conductive conjugated polymers has opened a new area of electronics, involving solution-based or solution-interfaced devices, and in particular in bioelectronics, namely for use in deep-brain stimulation electrodes and devices to measure and condition cells activity, as these materials offer new opportunities to interface cells and living tissues. Here, it is shown that the potential associated to the double layer formed at the interface between either metals or conducting polymers and electrolytes is modified by the application of an electric field along the conductive substrate. The EDL acts as a transducer of the electric field applied to the conductive substrate. This observation has profound implications in the modelling and operation of devices relying on interfaces between conductive materials (metals and conjugated polymers) and electrolytes, which encompasses various application fields ranging from medicine to electronics.
电双层（EDL）在各种材料与电解质界面的形成已经研究了很长时间。特别是，在金属/电解质界面形成的EDL 在电化学中处于核心地位，其应用范围广泛，涵盖了从腐蚀到电池到传感器等领域。高导电性共轭聚合物的发现开辟了电子学的一个新领域，涉及基于溶液或溶液界面的器件，特别是在生物电子学中，用于深部脑刺激电极和用于测量和调节细胞活动的器件，因为这些材料为细胞和活体组织的接口提供了新的机会。在这里，结果表明，金属或导电聚合物与电解质之间界面形成的双电层的电势通过沿导电基底施加电场而被改变。EDL 充当施加到导电基底的电场的换能器。这一观察结果对基于导电材料（金属和共轭聚合物）与电解质之间界面的器件的建模和操作具有深远的影响，这些器件涵盖了从医学到电子学等各种应用领域。
