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<img width="600" height="172" id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image002.png@01D8557C.6CF830A0" alt="Dissertation Defense Announcement at the Cullen College of Engineering" style="width:6.25in; height:1.7916in"></p>
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<strong><span style="font-size:18.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:#C8102E">3D Printing of Composite Organic Semiconductor Microdevices for Biosensors and Organic Bioelectronics</span></strong><span style="font-size:18.0pt; color:#C8102E"></span></p>
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<strong><span style="font-size:13.5pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black">Omid Dadras</span></strong><span style="font-size:13.5pt"></span></p>
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<span style="color:black">April 28, 2022; 12:00 - 2:00 PM (CST)<br>
Zoom: <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://uh-edu-cougarnet.zoom.us/j/93367814840?pwd=RUtiUTlUNzV4MEdvdzNQU0lwbTdQQT09__;!!LkSTlj0I!D5kAPA3o8cGCs7C1QY0QhRLs7AN7Hj69ZbXlHCyXVLGkL3K8ikpR8-V8340YlO_W55C4lej7KHw0KdB8ttWNA5Np$" target="_blank">
<span style="color:#1155CC; background:white">https://uh-edu-cougarnet.zoom.us/j/93367814840?pwd=RUtiUTlUNzV4MEdvdzNQU0lwbTdQQT09</span></a></span></p>
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<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif; color:black">Committee Chair:</span></strong><span style="color:black"><br>
Mohammad Reza Abidian, Ph.D.</span></p>
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<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif; color:black">Committee Members:</span></strong><span style="color:black"><br>
Chandra Mohan, Ph.D. | Sheereen Majd, Ph.D. | VijayKrishna Raghunathan, Ph.D. | Tai-Yen Chen, Ph.D.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Arial",sans-serif; color:#C8102E">Abstract</span></strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt; color:#C8102E"></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial",sans-serif; color:black">Bioelectronic devices aim to alleviate symptoms or return function to patients suffering from neural disorders / injuries. Choice of functional material and employment of advanced fabrication
techniques constitute key elements in ultimate success of these devices. As an alternative to traditional metallic platforms, organic electroactive materials have garnered tremendous attention in neural devices. Consequently, the emerging field of organic
bioelectronics has sought to interface the organic-based devices with the soft and ion-dominated neural tissue. Organic semiconductor materials (OSs), i.e. conjugated polymers, have emerged as one of the ideal candidates for neural interfaces, owing to their
biocompatibility, soft mechanical properties, and mixed electronic / ionic conductivity.
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial",sans-serif; color:black">This thesis is primarily focused on development of soft and conductive micron-scale platforms for applications in organic bioelectronics and biosensors. In the course of the projects,
much attention has been devoted towards design of microelectronic devices, employing advanced fabrication techniques, and formulation of composite biomaterials based on two common OSs; poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and polypyrrole.
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;text-indent:0in; line-height:normal">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial",sans-serif; color:black">The theme of research projects falls into two main categories: 1. Soft and bioactive platforms for neural regeneration, and 2. 3D-printed conductive microelectronic devices for organic
bioelectronics and biosensors. In the first category, we have developed a micro-patterning technique and have created various profiles of laminin gradients on surface of OS thin films, which can be potentially employed for neural regeneration. The second category
deals with design, fabrication and characterization of 3D-printed microelectronic devices. First, we have explored 3D printing of soft, conductive, and bioactive microstructures via direct laser writing, also known as multi-photon polymerization lithography
(MPL). We have formulated conductive photosensitive inks, and fabrication and characterization of microelectronic devices such as hybrid neural microelectrodes, bioactive microstructures and high-performance glucose biosensors have been successfully demonstrated.
We also report on development of an in-house 3D printing technique for fabrication of OS microdevices based on
<i>in-situ</i> electrochemical polymerization. Microelectronic devices, bioactive structures and glucose biosensors have been fabricated using this technique. Overall, we envision that these microelectronic devices and platforms pave the way towards development
of next-generation neural interfaces for organic bioelectronics and biosensing applications.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"></span></p>
<p><span style="color:black"><img border="0" width="600" height="83" id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image003.png@01D8557C.6CF830A0" alt="Engineered For What's Next" style="width:6.25in; height:.8645in"></span></p>
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