Sophia Aziz
Research Mentor: Albert Liu
Mentor Department: Chemical Engineering, Engineering
Author(s): Sophia Aziz, Sungwan Park, Albert Liu
Session: Session 1 (9:00 AM – 9:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 34
Abstract
The development of soft, conductive microgels has become critical for fabricating advanced biomedical technologies including injectable bioelectronic and therapeutic devices. The application demands material properties that seamlessly encompass electronic functionality, mechanical biocompatibility, and aqueous stability, which is a combination that remains a fundamental challenge that traditional metal or silicone-based materials cannot achieve. Although Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) has emerged as a promising candidate due to its high conductivity and biocompatibility, scalable fabrication of bulk PEDOT:PSS microgel structures with reconfigurability remains largely unexplored. Herein, we propose a novel methodology to fabricate pure PEDOT:PSS microgels through Phase Exchange-Aided Soft Lithography. The formulation system is scalable; microgel size can be tuned within the system by exchanging the compounds used to assemble the particles. The microgels exhibit excellent stability in aqueous conditions while also exhibiting the ability to swell. The formulated microgels are conductive, and their softness is confirmed by nano-indentation. Critically, the system enables the encapsulation of functional nanoparticles within the PEDOT:PSS matrix. This imparts additional functionalities; for instance, iron oxide encapsulation allows the microgels to be magnetically actuated, introducing reconfigurability. Phase Exchange-Aided Soft Lithography presents a facile method to fabricate pure PEDOT-PSS microgels with various unique functionalities and versatility.
