In the ElectroActive Coatings group we work to employ conducting polymers such as PEDOT and PPy for the purpose of developing multifunctional electrodes for neural recording and stimulation. Thanks to these materials sophisticated features, such as controlled delivery, can be implemented with high precision and controllability into a coating thinner than a micron. The devices carrying these coated electrodes can still be ultra-thin and flexible and retain excellent properties for recording and stimulation. Electroactive coatings are powerful for extending the functionalities of existing neuroelectronic research tools without sacrificing their overall performance.
In the lab we use various processes for our conducting polymer depositions.
The main technique is electrodeposition since it provides well adherent coatings with excellent properties for charge transfer over the solid-liquid boundary. Hence, the coated microelectrode obtains very low impedance in comparison to the bare metallic surface.
Furthermore, electrochemically driven deposition is limited to the conducting surfaces of the probe. Thus, such coatings can be applied subsequent to the final step of the probe microfabrication and there is no need for additional patterning.
In addition, we employ polymerization techniques such as vapor phase polymerization (VPP) for efficiently coating larger non-conducting substrates. Furthermore, casting of various PEDOT dispersion are used for rapid production of thick coatings.
Various electrochemical standard techniques are used to characterize the performance of our microelectrode coatings, thereamong:
Drug release is analyzed using
Morphology is analyzed using
Although we have nothing specific listed at the moment you can always l send us your application for a M.Sc. project.
Dr. Maria Asplund (Group leader)
Tel: 0761/203 67375, Room: 102 00 83
maria.asplund(at)imtek.uni-freiburg.de
Christian Böhler (PhD student)
Tel: 0761/203 67375, Room: 102 00 83
christian.boehler@imtek.uni-freiburg.de
Stefanie Heizmann (PhD student)
Tel: 0761/203 98596, Room: 071 00-03.2
stefanie.heizmann(at)imtek.uni-freiburg.de
Carolin Kleber (PhD student)
Tel: 0761/203 98595, Room: 071 00-03.2
carolin.kleber(at)imtek.uni-freiburg.de
Anika Schopf (Technical Support)
Tel: 0761/203 67962, Room: 071 00-03.1
anika.schopf(at)brainlinks-braintools.uni-freiburg.de
Felix Oberüber (HiWi)
Room: 102 00 40
felix.oberueber(at)gmail.com
Jean Chammas (HiWi)
Room: 102 00 40
jean(at)chammas.ca
Dunia Abed el Hafez (HiWi)
Room: 102 00 60
dunia.abed(at)mars.uni-freiburg.de