3d Nano-Crystal Iridium Oxide/Platinum As A High-Performance Coating For Neural Electrodes

The shrinking size of microelectrodes leads to high electrode/tissue interfacial impedance and low cathodic charge storage capacity (CSCc). In order to achieve safe, efficient and durable electrode performances, a novel 3D nanocrystal composite coating was achieved by introducing a well-controlled three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured platinum (Pt) as a mid-layer between the Pt substrate and iridium oxide (IrOx) coating, significantly reduced the impedance by 93.75% and increased the CSCc up to similar to 54.14mC.cm(-2) (15.21 times) compared with that of Pt electrodes. In addition, the new 3D nano-crystal IrOx/Pt composite coating was well-organized and exhibited great mechanical and electrochemical stability, which was beneficial for effective neural stimulation/recording in various applications.