Guest Editorial: Biological nanodielectrics

This IET Nanodielectrics special issue ‘Biological Nanodielectrics’ deals with state-of-the-art research of principles, functions and mechanisms of electrical activities in biological environments, so-called ‘bio-dielectrics’. Bio-dielectrics is a new and very interesting upcoming field of research, as it comprises the understanding of biological mechanisms regarding nano-electrical input and regulations, such as in the brain or neural systems, and using the gained knowledge for the development of technical and medical-related applications and devices. The issue contains three papers reflecting the spectrum of bio-dielectrics. The review paper by Xu and co-workers regarding nano-sized dielectrics in biosystems focuses on the most important element providing electrical activities in bodies, lipid membranes, and their ability to isolate as well as to generate transmembrane ion concentration gradients via ion channels. Using this, electrical activity is used for heart and muscle motions, the generation and transport of neuronal signals, and to maintain brain functions. With its high cross-membrane electric field, lipid membranes could be a blueprint for high-efficiency manmade bio-like batteries and devices, once open questions and working mechanisms are understood in more detail. Electrochromic devices, devices which are able to change their optical properties in the presence of an electric field or current, are of key interest in the area of flexible electronics such as bendable cell phones, displays or sensors. Often associated with restricted fabrication processes, Chaudhary and co-workers present a device which can easily be manufactured simply by galvanostatic method synthesising Prussian blue films on flexible indium doped tin oxide coated polyethylene terephthalate substrate. However, such a device can also be used in biological applications as a sensor for glucose, as it can easily detect different glucose concentrations in body fluids such as blood. Wang and co-workers address the high energy loss and residual heat during charge-discharge cycles of PVDF-based polymer/ceramics composite dielectrics. Although a very promising material due to its high dielectric constant, the problem of energy loss limits its practical application. The authors present a modification and optimization of the nanocomposite using a specific relaxor ferromagnetic matrix and a modified antiferroelectric ceramics filler, resulting in successfully enhanced charge-discharge efficiency due to reduced energy loss. The papers published in this Special Issue of IET Nanodielectrics demonstrate that, on the one hand, nano-dielectrical biological processes can inspire the development of certain devices based on such mechanisms. On the other hand, (nano-)dielectrics can be also applied in sensing and reporting of biological processes. With that, nano-dielectrics and complex biological processes could strongly benefit from each other, both in understanding and application. Uta Reibetanz obtained her PhD in Physics from the University of Leipzig in 2003, and was postdoctoral researcher at the National Nanotechnology Laboratory (NNL), Lecce, Italy, and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Afterwards, she obtained her “facultas docendi” in 2014 in Medical Physics/Biophysics from the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig. Since 2021, she is working as a staff scientist at the University of Leipzig. Her research focus is on the development and characterization of drug delivery systems. This particularly applies for a targeted and efficient transport and release of active agents in selected cellular compartments. These processes are intended to be accompanied with less side effects.

Abstract licence: CC BY-ND

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