Gordon Wallace is currently Executive Research Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science. He was appointed as a Professor at the University of Wollongong in 1990, awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) QEII Fellowship in 1991, an ARC Senior Research Fellowship in 1995, an ARC Professorial Fellowship in 2002 and an ARC Federation Fellowship in 2006. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) and received the Inaugural Polymer Science and Technology award from the RACI in 1992. He received the RACI Stokes Medal in 2004. In 2003 he was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and an ETS Walton Fellowship by Science Foundation Ireland. Gordon has published more than 400 refereed publications and a monograph on inherently conducting polymers for intelligent material systems. He has supervised 49 PhD students to completion.

Nanobionics: What role can organic conductors play?
by Professor Gordon Wallace

The use of nanotechnology to enhance the performance of bionic devices has given rise to the field of nanobionics. Since the days of Luigi Galvani we have long been intrigued by the ability to inject or extract electrical energy into and from biological systems. This evolved into the field of bionics, wherein the latest developments in electronics are applied to the development of medical implants, such as the bionic ear. Advances have also enabled the development of wearable bionic systems to assist with human movement. Improvements in existing medical implants and wearables as well as the realisation of other new bionic technologies, depends on appropriate advances in materials science. Organic conducting polymers were discovered thirty years ago and for the last decade have been considered as providing a unique bionic interface from the molecular to the skeletal level. Gordon describes recent work on the use of these organic conductors to provide a unique platform for nerve cell growth as well as to provide high performance artificial muscle fibres. As with all materials the ability to manipulate at the nanodomain induces unique and useful properties in organic conductors – providing materials that promise to add even further to the advancement of nanobionics.

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