Materials Horizons Emerging Investigator Series: Dr Eleni Stavrinidou, Linköping University, Sweden

Eleni Stavrinidou is an Associate Professor and leader of the Electronic Plants group at Linköping University. She received her Bachelor's degree in Physics in 2008 from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) and then her Master's degree in Nanotechnology from the same university, in 2010. She then joined the Department of Bioelectronics of Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne (France) where she completed her PhD on Microelectronics in 2014. Her work there focused on understanding and engineering ion transport in conducting polymers. She then did her postdoctoral training at Linköping University (Sweden), during which she was awarded a Marie Curie fellowship. During her postdoc she developed organic electronic devices integrated within living plants, introducing the concept of electronic plants. In 2017 Eleni Stavrinidou became Assistant Professor in Organic Electronics at Linköping University and established the Electronic Plants group. She received several grants, including a Swedish Research Council Starting Grant, and she is the Coordinator of the HyPhOE-FET-OPEN project. In 2019, she received the L’ORÉAL UNESCO For Women in Science prize in Sweden. In 2020, she became Associate Professor and Docent in Applied Physics. In the same year, she was awarded the Future Research Leaders grant of the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research. Her research interests focus on organic electronics for plant monitoring and optimization, energy applications and biohybrid systems.

Read Eleni Stavrinidou's Emerging Investigator Series article ‘Biohybrid plants with electronic roots via in vivo polymerization of conjugated oligomers’ ( 10.1039/D1MH01423D ) and read more about her in the interview below:

MH: Your recent Materials Horizons Communication describes biohybrid plants with electronic functionality that continue to grow and develop enabling biohybrid plant systems that fully maintain their biological processes. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article and where do you see your research going in future?

ES: This work started during my postdoc in 2015, where we demonstrated the electronic functionalization of plants with organic electronic materials for the first time. Back then we focused on introducing the electronic materials in the vascular system of the plant as it forms an extended microfluidic network integrated within the plant structure. However, to get access to the vasculature we used plant cuttings that were immersed in a solution of the electronic materials. First, we used the water soluble polymer PEDOT-S, which localized in the stem of the plant, forming hydrogel-like conducting wires that could be used as channels in organic electrochemical transistors. Then, in 2017, we designed the ETE-S molecule, the conjugated oligomer that we used in this study as well, and discovered that not only is it uptaken by the plant reaching every part of the vascular tissue, from stem to leaves and flower, but also it polymerizes in vivo, forming conducting wires with a conductivity two orders of magnitude higher than that of the PEDOT-S ones. In this work, we advanced the biohybrid technology by demonstrating the electronic functionalization of intact plants that continue to grow while maintaining the electronic functionality. We demonstrated that the roots become conducting and electrochemically active by simply watering the plant with electronic materials. Due to the presence of endogenous enzymes along the roots, the oligomers polymerize along and are templated by the root tissue. Roots are particularly interesting as the plant remains intact and, not only that, it continues to develop, adapting to the new hybrid state. Furthermore, the roots are readily accessible for connection with external devices for readout and addressing, making this approach particularly promising for the long term integration of electronics. My vision is to have biohybrid plants integrated in real life settings that can act as energy stations, sensors or even something completely different that we haven’t thought about yet.

MH: What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

ES: With this work we achieved a milestone. We have now demonstrated that electronic materials can be integrated in plants, long term, without negatively affecting the plants. From a biological perspective, we are looking in more detail into how the materials interact with the plant development and physiology. In this work, we observed that the root system of the functionalized plants became more complex, but we don’t understand why. From a technological perspective, we are focusing on optimizing the biohybrid technology for applications. Therefore, we are looking into increasing the charge storage capacity to power devices but also strategies to harvest energy from the plants.

MH: In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

ES: In my opinion the most important question is how to harness and integrate biological components and processes in biohybrid technologies. Currently, we can do that at a certain level, for example we can use the endogenous enzymatic activity of the plant to seamlessly integrate conductors along the plant tissue. But the biological world offers many optimized processes, for example adaptability and responsiveness to the environment, that are very difficult to mimic with fully artificial systems. How these processes can be leveraged in technology is a great challenge, but if it can be achieved it will enable the development of next generation biohybrid systems.

MH: What do you find most challenging about your research?

ES: My research is at the interface of biology and materials science. Leading multidisciplinary projects is very rewarding but also quite challenging as it requires knowledge and expertise from different fields. Furthermore, I find it challenging working with living organisms due to their complexity and unpredictability. On the other hand, the same complexity fascinates me and drives my research.

MH: In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

ES: Unfortunately, due the pandemic many of the meetings are virtual. I will be presenting my work in the virtual Fall MRS, the virtual Pacifichem in December and the nanoGe Organic Bioelectronics online Conference in February. But I am hoping to be able to participate in person in the nanoGe Spring meeting in Malaga, where I am organizing a symposium on the Fundamentals of Organic Bioelectronic Devices.

MH: How do you spend your spare time?

ES: I enjoy spending time with my cat Noël, cooking, gardening, meeting friends and I love travelling and exploring new cities. Whenever I have the chance, I also visit my family in Cyprus.

MH: Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

ES: To go beyond their comfort zone and pursue exploratory projects where the application is not always the goal but pushing the boundaries of knowledge and technology is. For early career female scientists, I would like to encourage them to believe in their capabilities and strengths and to not let the stereotypes prevent them from following their dreams.

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