Electrical Circuits Developed on Cookie Dough-Based Substrate and Their Sensing Applications

Abstract

Edible electronics present a blossoming path to a greener and eco-friendly future for electronics while being biocompatible with living beings. With this characteristic, edible electronics have been recently proposed for the design and fabrication of edible and digestible sensors. More precisely, it has become a strong and sustainable candidate for continuous and in vivo monitoring and diagnosis of patients. Yet, the field is in constant search for new functional materials satisfying the stringent and contrasting requirements of safe edibility and performing electronics. With this in mind, a novel edible substrate, based entirely on cookie dough, is presented in this letter. An extensive mechanical and electrical characterization of the edible substrate is provided, aside from a clear step-by-step guide for its fabrication. In addition, to prove the use of the cookie dough substrate for food-based electronics, we demonstrate a voltage divider and a resonant circuit fabricated on it. Tests have been conducted in dry and wet conditions, simulating intraoral environment. Sensing capabilities have been also investigated, with variations of temperature and pH. These findings push the boundaries of edible electronics, enabling a growing community of researchers to utilize the proposed substrate and circuits in a broad range of sensor technologies and applications.