Biomolecule-Interactive Flexible Light Emitting Capacitor Display

Ultrathin, lightweight, flexible, and conformable interactive displays that transduce external stimuli into human-readable signals are essential for emerging applications, such as wearable electronics, human-machine interfaces, and soft robots. Herein, a biomolecule-interactive flexible light emitting capacitor (LEC) display (BIO-LEC) capable of dynamic and quantitative visualization of biomolecules through naked-eye detectable electroluminescence (EL) emission is reported. BIO-LEC comprises a coplanar LEC light source at the bottom, and a designed microfluidic chip as sampling compartment at the top. The quantitative measurement feature of BIO-LEC is achieved by introducing the top liquid electrode, which possesses a unique long dielectric realization time, in the microfluidic chip. BIO-LEC is novel for the following reasons, 1) simple stimuli response principle based on correlating EL intensity to dielectric properties of the top liquid electrode; 2) simple test conditions whereby no labeling is required in the analyte solution to optically detect biomolecules; 3) effective sampling method through the design of an integrated microfluidic chip for hosting the top liquid electrode, ensuring good reproducibility and preventing contamination; 4) sensitive detection limit for heparin concentrations at clinically relevant levels, and 5) high compliance with industrial manufacturing standards.