FABRICATION OF CARBON NANOFIBROUS MICROELECTRODE ARRAY (CNF-MEA) USING NANOFIBER IMMERSION PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY
Pit Fee Jao, Eric Franca, Sheng-Po Fang, Junghae Yoon, Kun Cho, David E. Senior, Gloria Kim, Bruce Wheeler and Yong-Kyu Yoon
Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) are widely used for stimulating and receiving electrical signals between human and machines and for in vitro neural study. This work demonstrates the fabrication process of nanofibrous 3D microelectrodes using immersion lithography. Oil immersion negates the diffraction effects intrinsic in the photopatterning of electrospun nanofibers to give increased aspect ratio microarchitectures. Nanofiber electrode resistivity is characterized and its performance compared to that of carbon thin film. In vitro testing of electrodes are performed using E18 cortical neurons and analyzed for cell density and cell viability.
Keywords: Microelectrode arrays (MEAs), in vitro neural study, nanofibrous 3D microelectrodes, immersion lithography and electrospun nanofibers