Abstract
Successful formation of electronic interfaces between living cells and semiconductors hinges on being able to obtain an extremely close and high surface-area contact, which preserves both cell viability and semiconductor performance. To accomplish this, we introduce organic semiconductor assemblies consisting of a hierarchical arrangement of nanocrystals. These are synthesised via a colloidal chemical route that transforms the nontoxic commercial pigment quinacridone into various biomimetic three-dimensional arrangements of nanocrystals. Through a tuning of parameters such as precursor concentration, ligands and additives, we obtain complex size and shape control at room temperature. We elaborate hedgehog-shaped crystals comprising nanoscale needles or daggers that form intimate interfaces with the cell membrane, minimising the cleft with single cells without apparent detriment to viability. Excitation of such interfaces with light leads to effective cellular photostimulation. We find reversible light-induced conductance changes in ion-selective or temperature-gated channels.
Highlights
Successful formation of electronic interfaces between living cells and semiconductors hinges on being able to obtain an extremely close and high surface-area contact, which preserves both cell viability and semiconductor performance
We find that two cultured cell lines used routinely in electrophysiology experiments, rat basophilic leukaemia (RBL), and human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells, grow preferentially on such hierarchical nanocrystal structures, forming close interfaces with minimal cleft after a few hours in culture
To accomplish our crystal growth at room temperature and under mild conditions, we discovered a new deprotection reaction: the ability of carbamate esters to migrate between amine groups
Summary
Successful formation of electronic interfaces between living cells and semiconductors hinges on being able to obtain an extremely close and high surface-area contact, which preserves both cell viability and semiconductor performance. We elaborate hedgehog-shaped crystals comprising nanoscale needles or daggers that form intimate interfaces with the cell membrane, minimising the cleft with single cells without apparent detriment to viability Excitation of such interfaces with light leads to effective cellular photostimulation. By manipulation of conditions such as initial precursor concentration, reaction time, solvent, and chemical additives, we control size, shape, and crystalline polymorphism of the QNC structures, yielding spherical shapes consisting of high aspect-ratio nanocrystals with forms reminiscent of hedgehogs These hedgehog colloidal semiconductors, with overall diameter similar to a eukaryotic cell (10 μm), can be used directly in cell culture. We find that two cultured cell lines used routinely in electrophysiology experiments, rat basophilic leukaemia (RBL), and human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells, grow preferentially on such hierarchical nanocrystal structures, forming close interfaces with minimal cleft after a few hours in culture This occurs without apparent changes in cell viability. Our work demonstrates a promising new platform for optoelectronic interfaces with living matter
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