Neurotechnologies to Help the Body Move, Heal and Feel Again
Background: Highly conductive, flexible earbud electrodes will be fabricated using graphene-polymer nanocomposites. Due to a unique combination of chemical, electrical, mechanical and biological properties, graphene and graphene-related materials have emerged as attractive candidates for electrode fabrication in bidirectional neural interfaces. Highly conductive graphene nanosheets will be synthesized using chemical or electrochemical exfoliation from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). PDMS elastomer will be used as a matrix for graphene nanosheets. The concentration of graphene nanosheets and their dispersion in PDMS will be tuned to optimize the impedance and elasticity of the earbud electrodes. Graphene/PDMS nanocomposites will be molded in a 3D printed cast.