Prof. Dmitry Kireev of University of Massachusetts at Amherst

The modern electronic components are rigid, solid, and stiff – a terrible match for soft, squishy, and deformable tissue such as human skin or inner organs such as the brain. The material mismatch results in the conceptual incompatibility of modern electronics with biological tissue. Nanoscale materials, such as graphene and other 2D materials, on the other hand, are unique constructs: in addition to their apparent unobtrusive atomic thickness, they are flexible, transparent, and biocompatible, matching perfectly with biological tissue.

Using atomically thin and electrically conductive graphene electronic tattoos (GETs), we developed imperceptible monitoring technologies for measuring blood pressure with an unprecedented accuracy. Unlike other wearables, GETs are lightweight and skin-conformable, eliminating discomfort during long-term monitoring. Recently, we also translated this technology into implantable sensors, demonstrating the sensing and stimulation of the mammalian heart, including treatment of arrhythmia with graphene pacemakers. The arrays show superior electrochemical properties, while the transparency of the graphene structures allows for simultaneous optical mapping of cardiac action potentials and optogenetic stimulation. Additionally, we advanced in creating tissue-integratable bioelectronic systems resembling biological neurons using soft, flexible, and biocompatible artificial synaptic neuromorphic transistors based on graphene and Nafion, boosting superior energy efficiency.

Taken together, these breakthroughs on wearable, implantable, and neuromorphic frontiers open up new possibilities for wearable and implantable graphene (and other 2D Materials like MoS₂, PtSe₂, PtTe₂, and others) bioelectronics to transform healthcare.

Biography:

Dr. Dmitry Kireev is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, starting Fall 2023. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Texas at Austin. He is working on application of 2D materials (graphene, MoS2, PtSe2 etc) into fields of bioelectronics, neuroprosthesis, and wearable electronics. He finished his PhD work at the Institute of Bioelectronics (ICS-8) of Forschungszentrum Julich, Germany, working on graphene-based devices for bioelectronics. He is a recipient of a prestigious EMM-NANO scholarship and performed his master study in KULeuven and Chalmers University with majors in nanoelectronics.