Dissolution Chemistry and Biocompatibility of Silicon- and Germanium-Based Semiconductors for Transient Electronics

• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b02526
• Publication Date: 2015-04-13T19:39:49Z
• Authors: Seung-Kyun Kang; Gayoung Park; Kyungmin Kim; Suk-Won Hwang; Huanyu Cheng; Jiho Shin; Sangjin Chung; Minjin Kim; Lan Yin; Jeong Chul Lee; Kyung-Mi Lee; John A. Rogers
• Keywords: Biocompatibility; Polycrystalline silicon

Semiconducting materials are central to the development of high-performance electronics that capable dissolving completely when immersed in aqueous solutions, groundwater, or biofluids, for applications temporary biomedical implants, environmentally degradable sensors, and other systems. The results reported here include comprehensive studies dissolution by hydrolysis polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon-germanium, germanium solutions various pH values temperatures. In vitro cellular toxicity evaluations demonstrate biocompatibility end products dissolution, thereby supporting their potential use biodegradable electronics. A fully dissolvable thin-film solar cell illustrates ability integrate these semiconductors into functional