Spatiotemporal electrochemistry on flexible microelectrode arrays: Progress towards smart contact lens integration

•A flexible array of individually addressable microelectrodes is fabricated.•The polyimide-based device is configured for integration in a smart contact lens.•A real-speed ‘video’ technique allows electrochemical activity to be displayed.•This technique allows monitoring of analyte-flow across the s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Chemical, 2019-10, Vol.296, p.126671, Article 126671
Main Authors: Donora, Matthew, Gonzalez-Fernandez, Eva, Vásquez Quintero, Andrés, De Smet, Herbert, Underwood, Ian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electrochemical methods
Flexible microelectrodes
Smart contact lenses
Spatiotemporal electrochemistry
Wearable sensors
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Summary:•A flexible array of individually addressable microelectrodes is fabricated.•The polyimide-based device is configured for integration in a smart contact lens.•A real-speed ‘video’ technique allows electrochemical activity to be displayed.•This technique allows monitoring of analyte-flow across the surface of the cornea. We demonstrate a real-speed spatiotemporal electrochemical map showing both time- and position-varying concentration of an analyte in contact with a flexible microelectrode array. A polymer-based device of 11 μm in thickness comprising patterned gold metallisation on a polyimide substrate was fabricated, with eight individually addressable working electrodes (diameter 30 μm) and an integrated counter electrode. We performed a repeated sequence of high-speed chronoamperometric measurements at each electrode and processed the data to generate a spatiotemporal concentration map, in which a number of fluid effects, including bulk flow, diffusive mixing and homogenisation of two miscible fluids of different concentration were observed. This device was fabricated using processes compatible with an existing smart contact lens platform, with a view to develop integrated sensors in future work. We believe this technique has significant potential in the field of electrochemical smart contact lenses, both in introducing new functionality and in improving our ability to draw accurate and clinically-relevant conclusions from measurements made in the tear film.
ISSN:0925-4005
1873-3077
DOI:10.1016/j.snb.2019.126671