Bio-inspired submicron electrodes

Immobilized polymerized electroactive vesicles (IPEVs) are submicron biocapsules capable of storing charge in confined environments and chemisorbing on surfaces. Methods to immobilize stable submicron sized electroactive vesicles and the means to measure electroactivity of IPEVs at nanolevels have been demonstrated. IPEVs can withstand steep potential gradients applied across their membrane, maintain their structural integrity against surfaces poised at high/low electrical potentials, retain electroactive material over several days, and reversibly mediate (within the membrane) electron flow between the electrode surface and vesicle interior. IPEVs have strong potential to be used for charge storage and electron coupling applications that operate on the submicron scale and smaller.