Near-field Electrospinning of Conductive 3D Microstructure Electrode for Extraction of Photosynthetic Electrons

Recently, there have been many research works on electrode fabrication of energy harvesting or storage devices processes to meet increasing demands to drive small electronic devices. In previous studies, electrohydrodynamic printing, near-field electrospinning, and extrusion-based 3D printing has been utilized to fabricate electrodes for the compact energy storage. However, these attempts had the limitations of 2D structure, printing resolution, or need for post treatment for electrical conductivity. In this study, 3D microstructure electrode fabrication process was developed based on near-field electrospinning (NFES) that can print and stack conductive lines with high resolution without post treatment. Thylakoid membranes were deposited on the fabricated 3D microelectrodes and photosynthetic currents were measured. The photosynthetic current density measured on the fabricated electrode was increased 115% compared to that of a flat electrode. This result confirmed the increased surface area of the 3D micro electrode fabricated by NFES.