Regio selective deposition of conducting polymers using wireless electropolymerisation

Abstract

The ability to induce different potentials in different regions of a (bipolar) electrode could transform applications such as on-demand drug delivery, the electrostimulation of biological cells, the development of advanced electroceuticals, and multi-analyte detection devices where different analytes could be wirelessly detected in different regions of a single sensing surface dramatically simplifying the device design. Here, we demonstrate the use of multiple feeder electrodes to control the electric field distribution in solution thus changing the potential induced in different regions of the bipolar electrode depending on the feeder voltage, polarity and feeder electrode position. The principle is demonstrated for the deposition of films of the conducting polymer, Poly(3,4-EthyleneDiOxyThiophene) (PEDOT), without the need for a physical template to control the regions in which polymer deposits.