Thiol-click chemistries for responsive neural interfaces
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Updated: May 7, 2026
Light-mediated Formation and Patterning of Hydrogels for Cell Culture Applications
Published on: September 29, 2016
Taylor Ware1, Dustin Simon, Keith Hearon
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell Rd, Mailstop RL 3, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA.
Abstract:
Neural interfaces provide an electrical connection between computers and the nervous system: current penetrating devices are orders-of-magnitude stiffer than surrounding tissue. In this work, recent efforts in softening electronics and utilize thiol-ene and thiol-epoxy "click" reactions are built upon to incorporate fluid-sensitive hydrogen bonding into smart substrates for high electrode density neural interfaces. The modulus of these substrates drops more than two orders of magnitude in response to physiological conditions, despite fluid uptake of less than 6%, and can be tuned by the covalent crosslink density and degree of hydrogen bonding in the polymer network. Intracortical and intrafascicular electrode arrays are fabricated and characterized with impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry.
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