Self-Emitting Artificial Cilia Produced by Field Effect Spinning
Jeong, W., Jeong, S.-M., Lim, T., Han, C.-Y., Yang, H., Lee, B.W., Park, S.Y., Ju, S.
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 11(38), 35286 (2019)
DOI:10.1021/acsami.9b09571
Abstract
In nature, many cells possess cilia that provide them with motor or sensory functions, allowing organisms to adapt to their environment. The development of artificial cilia with identical or similar sensory functions will enable high-performance and flexible sensing. Here, we investigate a method of producing artificial cilia composed of various polymer materials, such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, poly(methyl methacrylate), polyvinylpyrrolidone, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and poly (allylamine hydrochloride), using a field effect spinning (FES) method. Unlike wet- or electro-spinning, in which single or multiple strands of fibers are pulled without direction, the FES method can grow fiber arrays vertically and uniformly on a substrate in cilia-like patterns. The lengths and diameters of the vertically grown artificial cilia can be controlled by the precursor polymer concentration in the solution, applied electric current and voltage, and shape and size of the needle tip used for FES. The red, green, and blue emission characteristics of the polymer-quantum dot-ba