Cotton Fabric Coated with Conducting Polymers and its Application in Monitoring of Carnivorous Plant Response
Václav Bajgar,
Marek Penhaker,
Lenka Martinková,
Andrej Pavlovič,
Patrycja Bober,
Miroslava Trchová,
Jaroslav Stejskal
Affiliations
Václav Bajgar
Department of Cybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, 708 33 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Marek Penhaker
Department of Cybernetics and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, 708 33 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Lenka Martinková
Inotex Ltd, 544 01 Dvur Kralove nad Labem, Czech Republic
Andrej Pavlovič
Department of Biophysics, Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Faculty of Science, Palacky University in Olomouc, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Patrycja Bober
Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 162 06 Prague 6, Czech Republic
Miroslava Trchová
Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 162 06 Prague 6, Czech Republic
Jaroslav Stejskal
Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 162 06 Prague 6, Czech Republic
The paper describes the electrical plant response to mechanical stimulation monitored with the help of conducting polymers deposited on cotton fabric. Cotton fabric was coated with conducting polymers, polyaniline or polypyrrole, in situ during the oxidation of respective monomers in aqueous medium. Thus, modified fabrics were again coated with polypyrrole or polyaniline, respectively, in order to investigate any synergetic effect between both polymers with respect to conductivity and its stability during repeated dry cleaning. The coating was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. The resulting fabrics have been used as electrodes to collect the electrical response to the stimulation of a Venus flytrap plant. This is a paradigm of the use of conducting polymers in monitoring of plant neurobiology.