Boosting hydrogel conductivity via water-dispersible conducting polymers for injectable bioelectronics
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s41467-025-59045-1.pdf
Description
Published version
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2.45 MB
Format
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Montazerian, Hossein
Davoodi, Elham
Wang, Canran
Lorestani, Farnaz
Li, Jiahong
Haghniaz, Reihaneh
Sampath, Rohan R
Mohaghegh, Neda
Khosravi, Safoora
Zehtabi, Fatemeh
Date Issued
April 22, 2025
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation
Montazerian, H., Davoodi, E., Wang, C. et al. Boosting hydrogel conductivity via water-dispersible conducting polymers for injectable bioelectronics. Nat Commun 16, 3755 (2025).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Bioelectronic devices hold transformative potential for healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics. Yet, traditional electronic implants often require invasive surgeries and are mechanically incompatible with biological tissues. Injectable hydrogel bioelectronics offer a minimally invasive alternative that interfaces with soft tissue seamlessly. A major challenge is the low conductivity of bioelectronic systems, stemming from poor dispersibility of conductive additives in hydrogel mixtures. We address this issue by engineering doping conditions with hydrophilic biomacromolecules, enhancing the dispersibility of conductive polymers in aqueous systems. This approach achieves a 5-fold increase in dispersibility and a 20-fold boost in conductivity compared to conventional methods. The resulting conductive polymers are molecularly and in vivo degradable, making them suitable for transient bioelectronics applications. These additives are compatible with various hydrogel systems, such as alginate, forming ionically cross-linkable conductive inks for 3D-printed wearable electronics toward high-performance physiological monitoring. Furthermore, integrating conductive fillers with gelatin-based bioadhesive hydrogels substantially enhances conductivity for injectable sealants, achieving 250% greater sensitivity in pH sensing for chronic wound monitoring. Our findings indicate that hydrophilic dopants effectively tailor conducting polymers for hydrogel fillers, enhancing their biodegradability and expanding applications in transient implantable biomonitoring.
MIT Department
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59045-1
