BIOCOMPATIBILITY OF LARGE-AREA 2-DIMENSIONAL ELECTRONIC MATERIALS WITH NEURAL STEM CELLS

Two-dimensional (2D) electronic materials hold immense promise for next-generation bio/neuro-electronic interfaces, but their biocompatibility has remained uncertain due to conflicting reports from studies focused on exfoliated flakes and suspensions. In this work, we present a comprehensive in vitro evaluation of electronic-grade large-area, chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown 2D materials – including platinum diselenide (PtSe ₂ ), platinum ditelluride (PtTe ₂ ), molybdenum disulfide (MoS ₂ ), and graphene – as substrates for mouse neural stem cell culture. Across all CVD-grown materials, the stem cells exhibited outstanding viability, with no significant differences in metabolic activity or live/apoptotic cell ratios compared to laminin-coated glass controls (p > 0.05). Importantly, these large-area 2D materials robustly supported neuronal differentiation, as evidenced by widespread βIII-tubulin expression. Strikingly, we found that flaky MoS₂ promoted significantly greater neuronal maturation (>75% NeuN⁺ neurons) than any other substrate tested (25–50% NeuN⁺; p < 0.05), revealing the critical influence of material format on bioactivity. While PtSe₂ showed a tendency to promote glial lineage differentiation, our findings firmly establish large-area CVD-grown 2D materials as biocompatible, tunable platforms for neural interfacing, paving the way for their integration into advanced bio/neuro-electronic devices.