Deposition of Polypyrrole Onto Bucky Gel for Use in a Biomimetic Artificial Excitable Cell Membrane Christina V. Haden ∗ Graduate Research Assistant Student Member of ASME Soft Materials Research Lab Mechanical and Aerospace Eng. University of Virginia 122 Engineer’s Way Charlottesville, Virginia 22904 Email: cvh2k@virginia.edu Donald A. Jordan Senior Research Scientist Soft Materials Research Lab Mechanical and Aerospace Eng. University of Virginia 122 Engineer’s Way Charlottesville, Virginia 22904 Email: dj8n@virginia.edu Pamela M. Norris Professor, Fellow of ASME Soft Materials Research Laboratory Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering University of Virginia 122 Engineer’s Way Charlottesville, Virginia 22904 Email: pamela@virginia.edu ABSTRACT A novel and inexpensive bucky gel electrode was investigated for use as the electrode substrate for polypyrrole deposition. Potentiostatic deposition of polypyrrole onto gold and bucky gel electrodes was carried out at +1.2 V vs. saturated calomel electrode for 1 hour in a standard 3-electrode electrochemical cell. The electroactive polypyrrole membrane was successfully deposited onto bucky gel, and its surface morphology studied using scanning electron microscopy. Given the bucky gel’s dual ability to both conduct electricity and ions, this work establishes the first step towards a semi-solid ion-gating system to be used in further applications. Keywords. Biomimicry, electroactive polymers, polypyrrole, bucky gel, artificial cell membrane 1 Introduction Investigation of a novel electrode for the deposition of polypyrrole (PPy) was motivated by interest in developing an artificial excitable cell membrane, capable of gating ion movement across it. Indeed, PPy membranes respond to the appli- cation of a voltage (±1 V vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE)) in a manner similar to voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs) found in cardiac cell membranes [1], by opening and closing to ion passage in a reversible process of oxidation and reduc- tion. As this alternating voltage is supplied to the PPy membrane by the electrode onto which it is polymerized, an ionically permeable electrode is needed for the preparation of the polymer. ∗ Address all correspondence to this author. Haden NANO-11-1027 1