The project will develop new bioelectronic interfaces that exploit unique properties of 3D printed multi-material devices. This will include van der Waals heterostructures comprising multiple layers of 2D materials including graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. The primary focus will be to design, fabricate, measure and optimize multi-material devices with three distinct sensing and imaging modalities, which can be utilized either independently or combined by fabricating hybrid devices with multiple functional layers for Electrical impedance tomography, Capacitive sensing and Electromagnetic detection.
The architecture of these devices will be developed for specific applications from the detection and analysis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in biological systems, with an aim to translate this research to whole organism imaging using Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans, a free-living soil nematode, is the most completely understood animal on the planet in terms of genetics, neurology, and cell survival. Its application as a model to study complex biochemical process has gathered significant momentum due to its ease of culture (feeds on bacterial lawns on agar plates), short life-cycle (egg to adult in 3 days), optical transparency (permitting optical visualization of anatomical events) and freely available mutants (that could function as experimental controls). The aim of the project will be to determine 3D positioning of AuNPs in the nematode anatomy, monitor AuNP nanowire growth in situ as well as determine the impact of electromagnetic control on C. elegans muscle contractions due to AuNP nanowire growth.
The student will work as part of multidisciplinary team crossing the boundaries between the Centre for Additive Manufacturing (Engineering), Pharmacy and Physics. The student will benefit from training in topical research areas ranging from additive manufacturing of functional devices incorporating low dimensional materials to development of novel electropeutic strategies.