In this work, we propose a new carbon–carbon (C–C) composites as a potential materials for electrodes for neural stimulation in neurodegenerative disorders. The C–C composites were made via chemical vapour deposition (CVD) synthesis of pyrocarbon on carbon fibers, with subsequent thermal spray deposition of carbon nanotubes (CNT). Different CNT types were tested to evaluate their impact on electrochemical and biological performance. Materials were analyzed for microstructure, surface chemistry, and electrochemical properties, then tested using SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells for biological assessment. TheC–C composites coated with a hydroxy-terminated CNT demonstrated significantly enhanced electrochemical properties, inparticular increased cathodal charge capacity upto12.51mCcm, a wide safe potential window of −1.53 to 1.26 V, and decreased impedance, and cut-off frequency (f = 0.16 kHz). No acute negative biological responses of the materials were detected after 48 h of exposition. Such properties significantly outperform the properties of platinum, which is the basic element of platinum electrodes, demonstrating the excellent performance of the obtained composites and showing it may constitute the basic element of carbon electrodes for nerve stimulation in the future. Our work presents the method for obtaining biologically inert carbon composite micro-electrodes which can potentially be adapted to neural stimulation.

中文翻译：

---

碳纳米管化学功能化对碳纤维/热解碳/碳纳米管复合材料电化学性能的影响作为神经细胞刺激电极的潜在材料


在这项工作中，我们提出了一种新的碳-碳（C-C）复合材料作为神经退行性疾病神经刺激电极的潜在材料。 C-C复合材料是通过在碳纤维上化学气相沉积（CVD）合成热解碳，然后热喷涂沉积碳纳米管（CNT）而制成的。对不同的碳纳米管类型进行了测试，以评估它们对电化学和生物性能的影响。对材料的微观结构、表面化学和电化学特性进行分析，然后使用 SH-SY5Y 神经母细胞瘤细胞进行测试以进行生物学评估。涂有羟基末端碳纳米管的 C-C 复合材料表现出显着增强的电化学性能，特别是阴极电荷容量增加至 12.51mCcm，安全电位窗口为 -1.53​​ 至 1.26 V，并降低了阻抗和截止频率 (f = 0.16kHz）。暴露 48 小时后，未检测到材料的急性负面生物反应。这些性能显着优于铂电极的基本元素铂的性能，证明了所获得的复合材料的优异性能，并表明其可能构成未来神经刺激碳电极的基本元素。我们的工作提出了获得生物惰性碳复合微电极的方法，该电极有可能适用于神经刺激。