Hand-paintable electrodes to study the brain

Measuring brain waves could become easier with electrodes and wires that researchers can paint on the scalp through parted hair using a paintbrush. Made with a conductive polymer ink, the micrometer-thin painted films stick strongly to the skin for up to 3 days, and then peel off, leaving hair intact. This makes them especially promising for pediatric studies, says Nanshu Lu , a professor of engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, who presented the advance on April 8 in Seattle at the 2025 Materials Research Society spring meeting. The paintable electrodes work just as well as the complicated electroencephalography (EEG) sensors used today to monitor the brain for research and for clinical applications. Those sensors involve metal electrodes attached to the scalp using a conductive paste or worn in a device like a shower cap: neither option is comfortable for hours. Last year, Lu and her colleagues concocted