Table 1.
Materials | Forms | Electrical conductivity | Advantages | Disadvantages |
---|---|---|---|---|
Platinum-gold alloy [46] | Discs |
Gold 4.52 × 107 S/m Platinum 9.6 × 106 S/m |
High mechanical strength, long-term stability, good biocompatibility and good corrosion resistance | Expensive, cell death caused by ion release |
Magnesium (Mg) alloys [48] | Discs | ≈2 × 107 S/m | High strength, fracture resistance, good electrical conductivity | Poor biocompatibility; cell death caused by high ion release, and change of local pH |
Polypyrrole [57] | Coating | 102~ 103 S/cm | Good compatibility and support cell adhesion and growth | Rigid, insoluble and poorly processable |
Polyaniline [58] | Film | 5~ 10 S/cm | Good environmental stability, low cost, good biocompatibility | Poor mechanical properties and complicated manufacturing methods |
Graphene [55] | Coating | 106 ~ 108 S/m | Good mechanical properties, easy bio-functionalization and drug loading | Moderate toxicity |
Carbon nanotubes [52, 53] | Doping with other materials | 1.8 × 107 S/m | High mechanical resilience, good support for active materials, high chemical stability, elasticity | Poor biocompatibility, poor dispersion, insoluble and toxic to the cells |