To: 09/06/2021 14:00
Plants are the basis of food, providers of oxygens and regulators of the ecosystem. In my group we are developing organic bioelectronic technologies for elucidating plant processes with special focus on plant acclimation to environmental stress. I will present our recent results on controlled delivery of phytohormones with organic electronic ion pumps and on real time monitoring of sugar fluctuations in trees with organic electrochemical transistor sensors. Our experiments revealed biological processes that were not observed before therefore highlighting the potential of bioelectronics in plant science, agriculture and forestry. The second part of my talk is dedicated to plant biohybrid systems. With conjugated oligomers introduced into the plant we are developing electronic devices within its structure. We have demonstrated that the oligomers polymerize in-vivo forming conductors, in parallel with the growth of the plant. The polymerization process is driven from lignification integrating the conducting polymers into the plant cell wall. The biohybrid system is further explored in energy applications.