Fiber-shaped organic electrochemical transistors for biochemical detections with high sensitivity and stability

Precise and continuous monitoring of biochemicals by biosensors assists to understand physiological functions for various diagnostics and therapeutic applications. For implanted biosensors, small size and flexibility are essential for minimizing tissue damage and achieving accurate detection. However, the active surface area of sensor decreases as the sensor becomes smaller, which will increase the impedance and decrease the signal to noise ratio, resulting in a poor detection limit. Taking advantages of local amplification effect, organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) constitute promising candidates for high-sensitive monitoring. However, their detections in deep tissues are rarely reported. Herein, we report a family of implantable, fiber-shaped all-in-one OECTs based on carbon nanotube fibers for versatile biochemical detection including H2O2, glucose, dopamine and glutamate. These fiber-shaped OECTs demonstrated high sensitivity, dynamical stability in physiological environment and anti-interference capability. After implantation in mouse brain, 7-day dopamine monitoring in vivo was realized for the first time. These fiber-shaped OECTs could be great additions to the “life science” tool box and represent promising avenue for biomedical monitoring.