by Keyword: Magnetic field
Puiggalí-Jou, A, Babeli, I, Roa, JJ, Zoppe, JO, Garcia-Amorós, J, Ginebra, MP, Alemán, C, García-Torres, J, (2021). Remote Spatiotemporal Control of a Magnetic and Electroconductive Hydrogel Network via Magnetic Fields for Soft Electronic Applications Acs Applied Materials & Interfaces 13, 42486-42501 
Multifunctional hydrogels are a class of materials offering new opportunities for interfacing living organisms with machines due to their mechanical compliance, biocompatibility, and capacity to be triggered by external stimuli. Here, we report a dual magnetic- and electric-stimuli-responsive hydrogel with the capacity to be disassembled and reassembled up to three times through reversible cross-links. This allows its use as an electronic device (e.g., temperature sensor) in the cross-linked state and spatiotemporal control through narrow channels in the disassembled state via the application of magnetic fields, followed by reassembly. The hydrogel consists of an interpenetrated polymer network of alginate (Alg) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), which imparts mechanical and electrical properties, respectively. In addition, the incorporation of magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4 NPs) endows the hydrogel with magnetic properties. After structural, (electro)chemical, and physical characterization, we successfully performed dynamic and continuous transport of the hydrogel through disassembly, transporting the polymer-Fe3O4 NP aggregates toward a target using magnetic fields and its final reassembly to recover the multifunctional hydrogel in the cross-linked state. We also successfully tested the PEDOT/Alg/Fe3O4 NP hydrogel for temperature sensing and magnetic hyperthermia after various disassembly/re-cross-linking cycles. The present methodology can pave the way to a new generation of soft electronic devices with the capacity to be remotely transported.
JTD Keywords: conductive hydrogel, constructs, magnetic field, magnetite nanoparticle, nanoindentation, soft electronics, spatiotemporal control, Conductive hydrogel, Conductive hydrogels, Magnetic field, Magnetite nanoparticle, Soft electronics, Spatiotemporal control
Oliva, A. M., Homs, A., Torrents, E., Juarez, A., Samitier, J., (2014). Effect of electric field and temperature in E.Coli viability IFMBE Proceedings 
XIII Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing 2013 (ed. Roa Romero, Laura M.), Springer (Seville, Spain) 41, 1833-1836
Electromagnetic Fields are increasingly used to manipulate bacteria. However, there is no systematic and definitive study on how the different electric parameters change bacteria viability. Here we present preliminary data on the effect of electric field intensity and temperature applica- tion. E. Coli colonies have been exposed to different voltages at 1MHz during 5 minutes by means of a custom-made micro- fluidic device. Results show that E.Coli survival rate is already reduced by applying field intensities as low as 220V/cm during 5 minutes. The use of stronger fields resulted in death rates increase also. Viability of survived bacteria was maintained. On the other hand, temperature has shown a synergistic effect with voltage. When temperature is increased results seem to indicate stronger sensitivity of cells to the electric field. It is necessary to continue studying the contribution of other para- meters as intensity, time, frequency or concentration, to study further synergies.
JTD Keywords: E. Coli, Electromagnetic Field, Temperature, Viability
