Semin Kim

Electrode surfaces have been widely modified with electrically conductive polymers, including polypyrrole (PPY), to improve the performance of electrodes. To utilize conductive polymers for electrode modification, strong adhesion between the polymer films and electrode substrates should be ensured with high electrical/electrochemical activities. In this study, PPY films were electrochemically polymerized on electrodes (e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO)) with dopamine as a bio-inspired adhesive molecu

Conductive polymers (CPs) such as polypyrrole (PPY) are emerging biomaterials for use as scaffolds and bioelectrodes which interact with biological systems electrically. Still, more electrically conductive and biologically interactive CPs are required to develop high performance biomaterials and medical devices. In this study, in situ electrochemical copolymerization of polydopamine (PDA) and PPY were performed for electrode modification. Their material and biological properties were characteriz

Self-healing polymeric materials, which can repair physical damage, offer promising prospects for protective applications across various industries. Although prolonged durability and resource conservation are key advantages, focusing solely on mechanical recovery may limit the market potential of these materials. The unique physical properties of self-healing polymers, such as interfacial reduction, seamless connection lines, temperature/pressure responses, and phase transitions, enable a multit

Conductive polymers, including polypyrrole (PPy), have been extensively explored to fabricate electrically conductive biomaterials for bioelectrodes and tissue engineering scaffolds. For their in vivo uses, a sterilization method without severe impairment of original material properties and performance is necessary. Gamma-ray radiation has been commonly applied for sterilization of medical products because of its simple and uniform sterilization without heat generation. Herein we describe the fi

Bioelectrodes have been widely used to effectively mediate electrical signals with biological systems for various biomedical applications, such as biosensors and prosthetic probes. However, the electrical properties of bioelectrodes are frequently degraded in the biological milieu due to biofouling of bioelectrode surfaces. Hence, the development of simple and effective strategies for bioelectrode surface modification is important for the mitigation of biofouling. To this end, we electrochemical

Bioelectrodes are key components of electronic devices that efficiently mediate electrical signals in biological systems. However, conventional bioelectrodes often undergo biofouling associated with non-specific proteins and cell adhesion on the electrode surfaces, which leads to seriously degraded electrical and/or electrochemical properties. Hence, a facile and effective method to modify the surface of bioelectrodes is required to introduce anti-biofouling properties and improve performance. H

Carbon-based materials, consisting of graphene oxide (GO) or reduced GO (rGO), possess unique abilities to interact with various molecules. In particular, rGO materials hold great promise for adsorption and delivery applications of hydrophobic molecules. However, conventional production and/or usage of rGO in aqueous solution often causes severe aggregation due to its low water solubility and thus difficulties in handling and applications. In our study, to prevent the severe aggregation of GO du

Insulating polymers have received little attention in electronic applications. Here, we synthesize a photoresponsive, amphiphilic block copolymer (PEO-b-PVBO) and further control the chain growth of the block segment (PVBO) to obtain different degrees of polymerization (DPs). The benzylidene oxazolone moiety in PEO-b-PVBO facilitated chain-conformational changes due to photoisomerization under visible/ultraviolet (UV) light illumination. Intercalation of the photoresponsive but electrically insu

Superabsorbent polymer (SAP) particles are primarily applied for absorbing and storing liquids. Here, poly (acrylic acid) (PAA)-based SAP microspheres incorporated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are prepared as an effort to maintain microsphere shape during swelling and minimize gel blocking. PAA-based SAP spheres are synthesized via inverse suspension polymerization. AgNPs are formed within SAP spheres through in situ reduction of silver nitrate (AgNO3), using polyvinylpyrrolidone as the red

Bioresponsive hydrogels are smart materials that respond to various external stimuli and exhibit great potential as biosensors owing to their capability of real-time and label-free detection. Here, we propose a sensing platform based on bioresponsive hydrogels, employing the concept of moiré patterns. Two sets of line patterns with different pitch sizes are prepared; a hydrogel grating whose pitch size changes according to external stimuli and a reference grating with constant pitch size. The vo

The integration of mechanically resilient conducting polymers into zinc- and alkali-ion hybrid capacitors has attracted attention for sustainable, flexible, high-performance, energy storage systems. By exhibiting mixed ionic–electronic conductivity, controllable ion-polymer interactions, electric double-layer, pseudocapacitive, and battery-type behavior, conducting polymers can perform multifunctional roles in both cathodes and anodes, and are capable of supporting all three charge storage mecha