<strong>Ph.D. Dissertation Defense: Karthik Reddy Gorla</strong>
Thursday, August 1, 2024
10:00 AM CST
115 Avery Hall

“Fundamentals of Molecular-Electrical Communication Interfacing based on Redox Electrochemistry”

The Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is an emerging area of networking where seamless interconnection between biological and electrical nanotechnology-enabled devices is envisioned to enable disruptive applications. This dissertation focuses on characterizing the propagation of information (communication channel) through an interface between the biological and the electrical domains, whose components are commonly used as part of biosensing systems. On top of its sensing capabilities, this interface, based on electrochemical transduction, is here innovatively modeled and characterized in terms of communication performance, a key parameter in the context of IoBNT. In particular, the transduction at the basis of this channel is enabled by interactions with a circuit electrode of reduction-oxidation (redox) chemical reactions, which are also building blocks of communication channels in biological cells and tissues. Based on its underlying physical and chemical processes, analytical and computational system models are detailed for the molecular-to-electrical channel, with the ultimate goal in this dissertation of enabling the empirical estimation of its performance through simulation data. These computational system models are then used to design engineering rules and explore compatible modulation techniques. The subsequent characterization of the electrical-to-molecular channel completes the bi-directional communication analysis of the interface under study. In summary, this dissertation explores the fundamentals of a redox-based interface that bridges communication between the molecular and electrical domains.

Committee:
Dr. Massimiliano Pierobon, Advisor
Dr. Sasitharan Balasubramaniam
Dr. Shuai Nie
Dr. Tadeusz Wysocki