Electrochemical characterization of ZnO-based transparent materials as recording electrodes for neural probes in optogenetics
Electrochemical characterization of ZnO-based transparent materials as recording electrodes for neural probes in optogenetics
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DOI：
10.1116/6.0001836
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发表时间：
2022-09
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Y. Miwa;H. Kino;T. Fukushima;Tetsu Tanaka
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Y. Miwa;H. Kino;T. Fukushima;Tetsu Tanaka
在阐明大脑功能方面，神经科学在实现脑机接口、脑深部电刺激和人工智能方面引起了人们的关注。光遗传学是一种通过光刺激控制神经活动的生物学技术。它是研究大脑功能最有效的方法之一。本研究提出利用透明记录电极来提高光遗传学神经探针的性能。与传统的金属记录电极相比，所提出的透明记录电极有可能获得更高的信噪比时，放置在光学刺激点。为了开发透明记录电极，我们使用具有良好生物相容性和透明性的ZnO基材料作为生物医学电极。考虑到盐水是生物体的主要组成部分之一，我们通过电化学阻抗谱和循环伏安法研究了ZnO基电极在盐水中的基本电化学特性。结果表明，射频磁控溅射沉积的未掺杂ZnO和Al掺杂ZnO具有较宽的电势窗口。发现双电层强烈地作用于电极和溶液之间的界面，而不是氧化还原反应。此外，本研究报告的结晶和掺杂剂的ZnO基电极的电化学特性的影响。本文开发的透明ZnO基电极是一种很有前途的候选人，以提高光遗传学神经探针的性能，并可以有效地应用于生物器件。
In the elucidation of brain functions, neuroscience has garnered attention in the realization of brain-machine interfaces, deep brain stimulation, and artificial intelligence. Optogenetics is a biological technique used to control neural activities via optical stimulation. It is one of the most effective approaches used to investigate brain functions. This study proposed to employ the transparent recording electrode to enhance the performance of neural probes for optogenetics. Compared with conventional metal recording electrodes, the proposed transparent recording electrodes have the potential to obtain higher signal-to-noise ratios when placed over optical stimulation points. To develop transparent recording electrodes, we used ZnO-based materials with good biocompatibility and transparency for utilization as biomedical electrodes. Considering saline as one of the main components of living organisms, we investigated the fundamental electrochemical characteristics of ZnO-based electrodes in saline through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The results showed that nondoped ZnO and Al-doped ZnO, deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering, exhibited a broad potential window. An electrical double layer was found to strongly act on the interface between the electrodes and solution rather than a redox reaction. In addition, this study reports the effects of crystallization and dopant on the electrochemical characteristics of the ZnO-based electrodes. The transparent ZnO-based electrode developed herein is a promising candidate to enhance the performance of neural probes for optogenetics and can be effectively applied in biological devices.