Graphene microelectrode arrays for neural activity detection

We demonstrate a method to fabricate graphene microelectrode arrays (MEAs) using a simple and inexpensive method to solve the problem of opaque electrode positions in traditional MEAs, while keeping good biocompatibility. To study the interface differences between graphene-electrolyte and gold-electrolyte, graphene and gold electrodes with a large area were fabricated. According to the simulation results of electrochemical impedances, the gold-electrolyte interface can be described as a classical double-layer structure, while the graphene-electrolyte interface can be explained by a modified double-layer theory. Furthermore, using graphene MEAs, we detected the neural activities of neurons dissociated from Wistar rats (embryonic day 18). The signal-to-noise ratio of the detected signal was 10.31 ± 1.2, which is comparable to those of MEAs made with other materials. The long-term stability of the MEAs is demonstrated by comparing differences in Bode diagrams taken before and after cell culturing.