Project R-14252

Nanoscale electro-optical characterization of biological nanofibers and their behaviour in bio-hybrid electronic devices – towards next generation biobased and biodegradable electronics (Research)

Due to their exceptional intrinsic electrical properties, electro-active microorganisms such as Cable Bacteria are receiving growing attention from diverse research fields, motivated by a fundamental interest in the underlying electrical transport mechanisms and in the potential future role in emerging domains such as bioelectronics, biodegradable electronics and electronic biological materials (e-biologics). In the long-term these biological electrical materials could open novel avenues to address the growing problem of electronic waste and could play a role in the 'More than Moore' trends in electronics, where new materials and heterogeneous integration technologies are indispensable for future breakthroughs. In this project we focus on the nanoscale electro-optical characterisation of the constituting conductive nanofibers of Cable Bacteria. While in previous research the complete organisms were studied in a macroscopic manner, here the isolated conductive nanofibers will be assessed directly on the nanoscale, using conductive AFM (C-AFM) and "bio-hybrid" solid-state test structures, e.g. inorganic transistor substrates with biological nanofibers as transistor channel. This direct assessment of conductive bio-nanofibres is expected to have a significant impact on the fundamental understanding of their intrinsic electrical properties and their behaviour in bio-hybrid electronic applications, of interest towards next generation biobased and biodegradable electronics.

01 November 2023 - 31 October 2027