The Roles of an Aluminum Underlayer in the Biocompatibility and Mechanical Integrity of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes for Interfacing with Retinal Neurons.

ABSTRACT: Retinal implant devices are becoming an increasingly realizable way to improve the vision of patients blinded by photoreceptor degeneration. As an electrode material that can improve restored visual acuity, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) excel due to their nanoscale topography, flexibility, surface chemistry, and double-layer capacitance. If vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) are biocompatible with retinal neurons and mechanically robust, they can further improve visual acuity-most notably in subretinal implants-because they can be patterned into high-aspect-ratio, micrometer-size electrodes. We investigated the role of an aluminum (Al) underlayer beneath an iron (Fe) catalyst layer used in the growth of VACNTs by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In particular, we cultured dissociated r

SUBMITTER: Watterson WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7345717 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature