Edith Laux

Decorating Parylene-Coated Glass with ZnO Nanoparticles for Antibacterial Applications: A Comparative Study of Sonochemical, Microwave, and Microwave-Plasma Coating Routes

A glass substrate, coated with a Parylene film, was coated with ZnO by three different methods: ultrasound, microwave, and microwave-plasma irradiation. These coating modes are simple, efficient, and environmentally friendly one-step processes. The structure of the coated products was characterized and compared using methods such as XRD, HR-SEM, EDS, RBS, and optical spectroscopy. Coating by ZnO nanoparticles was achieved for all three approaches. The products were found to differ in their particle sizes, coating thickness, and depth of penetration. All of the ZnO-Parylene-glass composites demonstrated a significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (Gram negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive) strains.

Development of Flexible Micro-Thermo-electrochemical Generators Based on Ionic Liquids

The unfavourable relationship between electrical and thermal conductivity limits the choice of solid-state materials for thermoelectric generators (TEG). Among ionic liquids (IOL), it appears that a large variety of thermoelectric (TE) materials with promising high Seebeck coefficients have potential for development. Furthermore, the novel solid-on-liquid deposition technology (SOLID) allows the encapsulation of liquid TE materials to create new, highly integrated TEG devices. Following this vision, this paper studies a large number of IOLs looking at TE-relevant parameters such as thermal and electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and temperature-dependent viscosity. We show that positive and negative Seebeck coefficients can be obtained, depending on the molecular structure and the viscosity of the IOL. The properties of single-junction TEGs are presented in terms of I–V characteristics correlated with the IOL properties. We prove that the limiting effect of conversion efficiency is the current density that can be extracted from a device rather than the Seebeck coefficient.

Towards the Application of Structure-Property Relationship Modeling in Materials Science: Predicting the Seebeck Coefficient for Ionic Liquid/Redox Couple Systems.

This work focuses on determining the influence of both ionic-liquid (IL) type and redox couple concentration on Seebeck coefficient values of such a system. The quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) and read-across techniques are proposed as methods to identify structural features of ILs (mixed with LiI/I2 redox couple), which have the most influence on the Seebeck coefficient (Se ) values of the system. ILs consisting of small, symmetric cations and anions with high values of vertical electron binding energy are recognized as those with the highest values of Se . In addition, the QSPR model enables the values of Se to be predicted for each IL that belongs to the applicability domain of the model. The influence of the redox-couple concentration on values of Se is also quantitatively described. Thus, it is possible to calculate how the value of Se will change with changing redox-couple concentration. The presence of the LiI/I2 redox couple in lower concentrations increases the values of Se , as expected.

NANOCI—Nanotechnology Based Cochlear Implant With Gapless Interface to Auditory Neurons

Cochlear implants (CI) restore functional hearing in the majority of deaf patients. Despite the tremendous success of these devices, some limitations remain. The bottleneck for optimal electrical stimulation with CI is caused by the anatomical gap between the electrode array and the auditory neurons in the inner ear. As a consequence, current devices are limited through 1) low frequency resolution, hence sub-optimal sound quality and 2), large stimulation currents, hence high energy consumption (responsible for significant battery costs and for impeding the development of fully implantable systems). A recently completed, multinational and interdisciplinary project called NANOCI aimed at overcoming current limitations by creating a gapless interface between auditory nerve fibers and the cochlear implant electrode array. This ambitious goal was achieved in vivo by neurotrophin-induced attraction of neurites through an intracochlear gel-nanomatrix onto a modified nanoCI electrode array located in the scala tympani of deafened guinea pigs. Functionally, the gapless interface led to lower stimulation thresholds and a larger dynamic range in vivo, and to reduced stimulation energy requirement (up to fivefold) in an in vitro model using auditory neurons cultured on multi-electrode arrays. In conclusion, the NANOCI project yielded proof of concept that a gapless interface between auditory neurons and cochlear implant electrode arrays is feasible. These findings may be of relevance for the development of future CI systems with better sound quality and performance and lower energy consumption. The present overview/review paper summarizes the NANOCI project history and highlights achievements of the individual work packages.

Fine control of drug delivery for cochlear implant applications

Cochlear implants are neuroprostheses that are inserted into the inner ear to directly electrically stimulate the auditory nerve, thus replacing lost cochlear receptors, the hair cells. The reduction of the gap between electrodes and nerve cells will contribute to technological solutions simultaneously increasing the frequency resolution, the sound quality and the amplification of the signal. Recent findings indicate that neurotrophins (NTs) such as brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) stimulate the neurite outgrowth of auditory nerve cells by activating Trk receptors on the cellular surface (1–3). Furthermore, small-size TrkB receptor agonists such as di-hydroxyflavone (DHF) are now available, which activate the TrkB receptor with similar efficiency as BDNF, but are much more stable (4). Experimentally, such molecules are currently used to attract nerve cells towards, for example, the electrodes of cochlear implants. This paper analyses the scenarios of low dose aspects of controlled release of small-size Trk receptor agonists from the coated CI electrode array into the inner ear. The control must first ensure a sufficient dose for the onset of neurite growth. Secondly, a gradient in concentration needs to be maintained to allow directive growth of neurites through the perilymph-filled gap towards the electrodes of the implant. We used fluorescein as a test molecule for its molecular size similarity to DHF and investigated two different transport mechanisms of drug dispensing, which both have the potential to fulfil controlled low-throughput drug-deliverable requirements. The first is based on the release of aqueous fluorescein into water through well-defined 60-μm size holes arrays in a membrane by pure osmosis. The release was both simulated using the software COMSOL and observed experimentally. In the second approach, solid fluorescein crystals were encapsulated in a thin layer of parylene (PPX), hence creating random nanometer-sized pinholes. In this approach, the release occurred due to subsequent water diffusion through the pinholes, dissolution of the fluorescein and then release by out-diffusion. Surprisingly, the release rate of solid fluorescein through the nanoscopic scale holes was found to be in the same order of magnitude as for liquid fluorescein release through microscopic holes.

Predicting the viscosity and electrical conductivity of ionic liquids on the basis of theoretically calculated ionic volumes

Selected physical properties of the ionic liquids might be quantitatively predicted based on the volumes of the ions these systems are composed of. It is demonstrated that the ionic volumes calculated using relatively simple theoretical quantum chemistry methods can be utilised to estimate the viscosities and electrical conductivities of various commonly used ionic liquids. The fitting formulas of the exponential form are offered and their predictive usefulness is verified. The quality of such predictions is discussed on the basis of several ionic liquids involving [Tf2N]‑ and [BF4]‑ anions and 16 various cations. The dependence of the viscosity and electrical conductivity of the ionic liquids on the temperature is also investigated and the temperature-dependent equations are derived and compared to the experimentally measured values.

General aspects of solid on liquid growth mechanisms

Liquids, in general, tend to have a lower density as solids and therefore it is not straightforward to deposit solid over liquids in a way that the liquid becomes hermetically sealed under the solid layer. The authors review that several phenomena that can easily be observed in nature are only due to particular anomalies and solid on liquid is rather an exception as the rule. Natural solid on liquid systems are lacking of thermal, mechanical or chemical stability. It is not surprising, that one is not at all used thinking about to e.g. replace the gate oxide in a thin film transistor by a thin film of oil, or, to find in other microsystems functional liquids between a stack of thin solid films. However, once this becomes a serious option, a large variety of new Microsystems with new functionalities can be easily designed. In another paper (this conference and [1]) the authors pioneered that the polymer Parylene (poly(p-xylylene)) can be deposited on liquids coming already quite close to the above mentioned vision. In this paper the authors ask if one can synthesize other solid on liquid systems and surprisingly conclude, based on experimental evidence, that solid on liquid deposition seems to rather be the rule and not the exception.

Liquid as template for next generation micro devices

Liquids have fascinated generations of scientists and engineers. Since ancient Greece, the perfect natural shape of liquids has been used to create optical systems. Nowadays, the natural shape of liquid is used in the fabrication of microlens arrays that rely on the melting of glass or photoresist to generate high quality lenses. However shrinkage normally associated to the liquid to solid phase transition will affect the initial shape and quality of the liquid structure. In this contribution, a novel fabrication technique that enables the encapsulation and replication of liquid templates without affecting their natural shape is presented. The SOLID (SOlid on LIquid Deposition) process [1] allows for a transparent solid film to be deposited and grown onto a liquid template (droplet, film, line) in a way that the liquid shapes the overgrowing solid layer. The resulting configuration of the SOLID devices is chemically and mechanically stable and is the base of a huge variety of new micro-nano systems in the field of microfluidics, biomedical devices and micro-optics among others. The SOLID process enables in a one step process the encapsulation of liquid microlenses, fluidics channels, drug reservoir or any naturally driven liquid structure. The phenomenon and solid-liquid interface resulting from the SOLID process is new and still unexploited. The solid layer used for the SOLID process chosen in this paper is poly-para-xylylene called Parylene, a transparent biocompatible polymer with excellent mechanical and chemical properties. Moreover, as the solid layer is growing over a liquid template, atomically smooth surfaces channels can be obtained [2]. The polymerization of Parylene does not exert stress and does not change the shape of the liquid; this latter aspect is particularly interesting for manufacturing naturally driven liquid structures. In this paper the authors explore the limits of this new method by testing different designs of SOLID encapsulated structures and their potential to deliver next generation micro devices.