Flexible sensor with conducting polymers and photosensitive protein

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

We designed photosensors based on the bacteriorhodopsin (bR) pigment found in the cell membrane of Halobacteria and showed that motion detection is possible using only one sensing element. The photocell consists of a bR dip-coated thin film and electrolyte sandwiched between glass plates with ITO electrodes. We fabricated a simple direction sensor by patterning the bR films on electrodes. When light scans the sensing area, the edges of each pattern produce a positive or negative current depending on the light's speed and direction. These direction sensors also respond strongly to rapidly moving objects, though not at all to slow ones. Eventually we replaced ITO/glass with conductive polymer/plastic based on PEDET:PSS. The flexible sensor showed almost the same response as ITO/glass sensor, but couldn't sufficiently respond. The hybrid sensor with protein and conductive polymer will lead to large sensing area system and could be utilized for robot vision applications.