Changes Over Time in the Electrode/Brain Interface Impedance: An Ex-Vivo Study.

Closed-loop neural implants based on continuous brain activity recording and intracortical microstimulation are extremely effective and promising devices to monitor and address many neurodegenerative diseases. The efficiency of these devices depends on the robustness of the designed circuits which rely on precise electrical equivalent models of the electrode/brain interface. This is true in the case of amplifiers for differential recording, voltage or current drivers for neurostimulation, and potentiostats for electrochemical bio-sensing.

Effect of TiO and AlO Addition on the Performance of Chitosan/Phosphotungstic Composite Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells.

Composite chitosan/phosphotungstic acid (CS/PTA) with the addition of TiO and AlO particles were synthesized to be used as proton exchange membranes in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The influence of fillers was assessed through X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, liquid uptake, ion exchange capacity and methanol permeability measurements. The addition of TiO particles into proton exchange membranes led to an increase in crystallinity and a decrease in liquid uptake and methanol permeability with respect to pristine CS/PTA membranes, whilst the effect of the introduction of AlO particles on the characteristics of membranes is almost the opposite.

Silicon Carbide-Gated Nanofluidic Membrane for Active Control of Electrokinetic Ionic Transport.

Manipulation of ions and molecules by external control at the nanoscale is highly relevant to biomedical applications. We report a biocompatible electrode-embedded nanofluidic channel membrane designed for electrofluidic applications such as ionic field-effect transistors for implantable drug-delivery systems. Our nanofluidic membrane includes a polysilicon electrode electrically isolated by amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC).