John A. Rogers plenary: Materials and Devices for Bioresorbable Electronics

A plenary talk from SPIE Optics + Photonics 2014 - http://spie.org/op

A remarkable feature of the modern integrated circuit is its ability to operate in a stable fashion, with almost perfect reliability. Recently developed classes of electronic materials create an opportunity to engineer the opposite outcome, in the form of devices that dissolve completely in water, with harmless end products. The enabled applications range from ‘green' consumer electronics to bio-resorbable medical implants.

In this plenary talk, John A. Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA) summarizes recent work on this physically ‘transient' type of electronics, from basic advances in materials chemistry, to fundamental studies of dissolution reactions, to engineering development of complete sets of device components, sensors, and integrated systems. An ‘electroceutical' bacteriocide designed for treatment of surgical site infections provides an application example.

John A. Rogers obtained BA and BS degrees in chemistry and in physics from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1989. From MIT, he received SM degrees in physics and in chemistry in 1992 and a PhD in physical chemistry in 1995. He is currently Swanlund Chair Professor at University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, with a primary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Rogers is also director of the Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. His research includes fundamental and applied aspects of materials and patterning techniques for unusual electronic and photonic devices, with an emphasis on bio-integrated and bio-inspired systems.