Conformable thin film organic electrochemical transistor array featuring tissue-like softness and ultralow biofouling

Flexible thin-film electronics with a controlled biointeraction are highly desirable for health monitoring, medical implants, medical therapy, and life science studies. However, the required photolithography-compatible hermetic encapsulation system with excellent conformability and low fouling is still absent for thin-film electronics to integrate cells/tissues in a complex biological environment tightly. We developed a zwitterionic conformable hermetic encapsulation system featuring tissue-like wet surface softness and ultralow biofouling to offer a robust and scalable solution to this complex challenge. To verify its compatibility with UV lithography technology, particularly its power to address the fouling and incompliance issues simultaneously, we utilized it to encapsulate and fabricate functionalized thin film OECT arrays. Thus prepared devices presented excellent wet conformability to undeveloped surfaces and well-controlled interaction with proteins/cells. Finally, these functional device arrays have been proved a working site-only interaction with cells and much more accurate detection of cells in a complex biological biofluid. We envision this zwitterionic hermetic encapsulation system offering attractive options for fabricating flexible bioelectronics with controllable biointeraction, facilitating a compatible biointerface or more accurate signal detection.