Development of polymer wicks for the fabrication of bio-medical sensors

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2015

Authors

Martins, AC (Author) Other; Moreira, A (Author) Other; Machado, AV (Author) Other; Vaz, F (Author) Other; C. Fonseca (Author) FEUP; Nobrega, JM (Author) Other

Journal

Title: MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING C-MATERIALS FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

Vol. 49

Pages: 356-363

ISSN: 0928-4931

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 17 Citations

Scopus - 18 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00A-3G2

DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2015.01.044

Abstract (EN): Polymer based wicking structures were fabricated by sintering powders of polycarbonate (PC), ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and polyamide 12, aiming at selecting a suitable material for an innovative electroencephalography (EEG) bio-electrode. Preliminary experiments showed that PC based wicks displayed the best mechanical properties, therefore more detailed studies were carried out with PC to evaluate the influence of powder granulometry and processing parameters (pressure, temperature and time) on the mechanical properties, porosity, mean pore radius and permeability of the wicks. It was concluded that the mechanical properties are significantly enhanced by increasing the processing time and pressure, although at the expense of a significant decrease of porosity and mean pore diameter (and thus permeability), particularly for the highest applied pressures (74 kPa). However, a good compromise between porosity/permeability and mechanical properties could be obtained by sintering PC powders of particle sizes below 500 mu m at 165 degrees C for 5 min, upon an applied pressure of 56 kPa. Moreover, PC proved to be chemically stable in contact with an EEG common used disinfectant. Thus, wicking structures with appropriate properties for the fabrication of reusable bio-electrodes could be fabricated from the sintering of PC powders.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 8