Fully biocompatible, thermally drawn fiber supercapacitors for long-term bio-implantation

Sungha Jeon, Hyeonyeob Seo, Yeji Kim, Youngin Choi, Youngbin Lee, Youngmin Jung, Somin Lee, Jung Tae Lee () and Seongjun Park ()
Additional contact information
Sungha Jeon: Seoul National University
Hyeonyeob Seo: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Yeji Kim: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Youngin Choi: Hanyang University
Youngbin Lee: Seoul National University
Youngmin Jung: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Somin Lee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Jung Tae Lee: Kyung Hee University
Seongjun Park: Seoul National University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Recent advancements in implantable bioelectronic devices have increased the demand for biocompatible energy sources with long-term electrochemical and mechanical stability. Here, we present a tough hydrogel-based supercapacitor (THBS) fiber, fabricated via a thermal drawing process (TDP), that enables the integration of all components—electrodes, electrolyte, current collectors, and encapsulation—into a single, unified, and mechanically robust fiber-shaped architecture. Through thermal/mechanical optimization and the incorporation of self-healing properties, THBS fibers exhibit durable, high electrochemical performance under dynamic, high-curvature deformations mimicking in vivo physiological motions. Despite a thickness of only a few hundred microns, they maintain mechanical and electrochemical stability. Long-term functionality was confirmed over five weeks with minimal immune response. In vivo implantation demonstrated successful LED operation in a freely moving mouse, and successful optogenetic stimulation of both central and peripheral nervous systems. These results underscore the promise of THBS fibers as next-generation, fully biocompatible energy storage devices for advanced implantable bioelectronic systems.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63649-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-63649-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63649-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().