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Bioinformatics, Computational and Systems Biology

Bioinformatics, Computational and Systems Biology - Poster Session B

Poster A4 - Continuous Monitoring of Sweat by Laser-Induced Graphene

Thursday, October 24, 2024

2:45 PM - 3:45 PM EST

Location: Exhibit Hall E, F & G

Presenting Author(s)

Alexander Rohleder

Undergraduate
University of Southern California, United States

Co-Author(s)

Victor Ong

Ph.D. Candidate
University of Southern California, United States
Michael J. Lee (he/him/his)

Undergraduate Researcher
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, United States
Haozheng Ma (he/him/his)

PhD Student
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, United States

Primary Investigator(s)

MM

Maral Mousavi

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
University of Southern California, United States

Co-Author(s)

MT

Mihir Tilak

Introduction: Sweat is a rich source of biomarker information, but continuous sweat sampling and analysis remains a difficult task to accomplish. Flexible, durable sensors are important for developing wearable technologies. Laser-induced graphene (LIG) is a versatile and promising material for flexible, wearable electrochemical sensors that can be used for continuous sweat monitoring. LIG can be produced on a variety of polymeric substances. Therefore, this work looks to optimize fabrication parameters for LIG on different polymers. The performance of the LIG sensors will be evaluated for continuous monitoring of lactate as a biomarker of bodily fatigue.

Materials and

Methods: Different monomer mixtures were mixed with crosslinker, dropcast into petri dishes, degassed in a vacuum, and allowed to cure in an oven. The ensuing solid polymer layer was laser-engraved with varying power, speed, and focus distances on a standard CO2 laser engraver. The resulting LIG was electrochemically, optically, and spectroscopically analyzed.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: LIG engraved on polyimide film (the standard polymer used) resulted in electrochemical surface area over 10 times the geometric surface area with good reproducibility. This, as expected, was the most performant electrode, but other polymer films still showed graphene generation. Polymer films which were rich in carbon rings tended to generate higher-quality LIG than polymers without these structures.
Future work remains to be done on block copolymers and experimentation on tuning the physical characteristics of the polymers, including stress-strain and shear force investigations. Development of surface-binding chemistry for enzymes required for sensing lactase also need to be investigated.

Acknowledgements (Optional):