Biological modulation with semiconductor-based composites or heterojunctions

17th March 2022

Timing : 2 pm EST

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For a list of all talks at the NanoBio seminar Series Spring'22, see here


Biointerface devices can probe fundamental biological dynamics and improve human life quality. My group integrates nanoscience with biophysics and bioengineering to study several semiconductor-based biointerfaces. Previous research in my lab has revealed how the physicochemical outputs from the photothermal, photofaradic, and photocapacitive effects of nanostructured semiconductors can be identified, quantified, and utilized at semiconductor-based biointerfaces to modulate electrical activities in neurons and cardiomyocytes. The non-genetic and free-standing materials-based methods can overcome some limitations of current metal electrode-based devices or optogenetics techniques. In this seminar, I will also present a few recent studies in my group. For example, I will show a material synthetic biology approach to grow microbial nanowires and semiconductor nanoparticles simultaneously. We demonstrate that the inorganic nanoparticles can couple the optical modulation with bacterial energy metabolism. Moreover, I will present a newly developed nanoporous/non-porous heterojunction for improved optical modulation biointerfaces. Without any interconnects or metal modifications, the heterojunction enables efficient non-genetic optical stimulation of isolated rat hearts ex vivo and sciatic nerves in vivo with radiant exposure similar to that used in optogenetics. At the end, I will present future biointerface development in our lab.



Snow
Bohzi Tian
Professor, Department of Chemistry
The University of Chicago, USA

Dr. Bozhi Tian received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in chemistry from Fudan University Shanghai, China, and the A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in physical chemistry from Harvard University. His current research focuses on the materials development for bioelectronics, semiconductor-enabled understanding of subcellular biophysics, and studies of dynamics at soft- hard interfaces. Dr. Tian’s accolades include Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) and 35 Innovators Under 35 (TR35).