<br/>Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are a ubiquitous part of a multitude of industries including transportation, communication, medical diagnostics, and consumer products. Since the MEMS industry evolved from the integrated circuit industry, the majority are made from silicon which requires energy intensive, time consuming processing with harsh chemicals.  We have developed a process for producing standard MEMS devices from cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) films. CNC provide the advantages of less energy intensive, more environmentally benign processing, as well as the ability to easily tailor surface chemistry as well as optical and mechanical properties.  A test platform of multiple MEMS structures including cantilever arrays, doubly clamped beams, residual stress testers, and mechanical strength testers were fabricated from shear aligned CNC films using lithography.  Nanoindentation, electrostatic actuation, and scanning electron/polarized optical microscopy revealed unique anisotropic optical and mechanical properties of aligned CNC at these micron scale structures.  The films have an elastic modulus of ~60 GPa which is the same order of magnitude as silicon. One of the most promising applications for CNC MEMS is in biosensing. We report the performance of CNC cantilever arrays in the detection of model cancer biomarkers.  These results highlight the potential for using CNC as a renewable and green alternative for broad application of MEMS with tailorable mechanical, optical, and surface properties unlike silicon.<br/>

Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for biosensing

255th National Meeting (2018)

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