2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Cyanobacteria-Driven Polymerization of PEDOT:PSS
Combining biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components to engineer next-generation materials has been a growing area of interest due to its potential to create hybrid materials with enhanced functionalities from the individual components. In this work, we combine the cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus (PCC 7942) with the monomers 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) to form the polymer PEDOT:PSS. PEDOT:PSS is a popular polymer choice in bioelectronics due to its conductivity, flexibility, and weight. Traditionally, the polymer can be chemically synthesized with sulfate compounds, which can induce harmful effects upon environmental exposure, such as water and soil contamination. Our hypothesis is that reactive oxygen species (ROS) released by S.elongatus catalyzes the PEDOT:PSS formation. S. elongatus are wild-type photosynthetic organisms found in abundance in nature, and they release considerable ROS when subjected to stress as part of their metabolic responses. Here, we subject the cyanobacteria cells to high-intensity light and demonstrate that the ROS generated can oxidatively polymerize PEDOT under acidic conditions within four days. Further material characterization results confirm the formation of the biosynthesized PEDOT:PSS and its conductivity and mechanical properties. We then successfully developed ink formulations and fabricated 3D-printed structures of biosynthesized PEDOT:PSS. Besides demonstrating the ability of living organisms to provide an environmentally-friendly pathway for PEDOT:PSS synthesis, the results of this project can be used to study further the fabrication of stimuli-responsive, self-healing, cyanobacteria-based PEDOT:PSS.