Materials Scientist: High-Performance Dry Conductive Material for EEG / BCI Electrode

About us and the product Reininger EEG Solutions e.U. (Austria) is developing Phoenix, a consumer-grade brain-computer interface (BCI) headset built around a dry, multi-channel EEG sensor system. Our core sensor is a tri-concentric ring electrode (TCRE). It shares an integrated active front-end: per-ring CMOS unity-gain buffering, a continuous guard topology, feeding a multi-channel bio-ADC. The scalp-contacting surface is currently additively manufactured (3D-printed) from a carbon-loaded conductive thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The electrode is fully dry, with no gel and no skin preparation. It has already been validated in vivo with a clear alpha/Berger response at occipital sites. Still the TPU is our limiting component. The current carbon-TPU contact has good but improvable contact resistance, and its carbon-polymer interface limits low-frequency and DC stability, motion-artifact resistance, and intrinsic noise performance. As we migrate to a lower-noise front-end (ADS1299 class, around 1 µVpp input-referred), the material's own contribution to signal quality becomes more important. We are looking for a materials scientist to develop and validate a better dry conductive material, or functional surface, for this electrode. We want a dry conductive material or surface that improves on the current baseline across: Contact (electrode-skin) impedance. Meaning lower and more stable, including at light contact pressure Half-cell potential, DC drift, and polarization. Preferably low and stable, for clean low-frequency EEG Intrinsic and interface noise. So it is compatible with an approximately 1 µVpp front-end Motion-artifact resistance. It needs to be somewhat stable contact impedance under movement Lastly skin safety for repeated dry contact, plus durability and aging over many use cycles Current measured baseline, for reference will be shared under NDA. The right solution may be a thin functional coating on our existing printed geometry (for example a conductive polymer such as PEDOT:PSS, a metallization layer, or a nanomaterial film such as CNT, graphene, MXene, or silver nanowire). Maybe even a different conductive formulation or composite, or a structured surface approach entirely. We want you to propose the route, with rationale. First, it must stay dry, with no electrolyte gel. Second, per-sensor material cost must be low. Our headset BOM target is under €500. Therefore, the conductive material on each electrode must be inexpensive and scalable to produce. It must also interface with our existing electrode without breaking it, presenting correctly to our per-ring active buffer and staying compatible with the TCRE geometry and active-front-end architecture. Review our current electrode design, material, measured impedances, and validation data (provided under NDA) Propose one or more candidate materials or surface treatments, with technical rationale, expected performance, and rough cost. Formulate or produce physical samples compatible with our electrode geometry Characterize the material impedance versus frequency, half-cell potential and drift, noise, motion-artifact behavior, durability, and biocompatibility considerations Benchmark candidates against the current conductive-TPU baseline Define a manufacturable production process with a per-unit material cost estimate at volume Document the work to a standard sufficient to support a patent filing Skills that would help but we are not someone who is expecting 30 years of work experience at 12 years old.: Materials science or electrochemistry. Best with a focus on bioelectrodes or dry biopotential electrodes. Electrode-skin interface and impedance characterization Hands-on experience with conductive polymers (PEDOT:PSS), nanomaterials (CNT, graphene, MXene, silver nanowire), polymer metallization and coating, or conductive composites Maybe some basic understanding of EEG and biopotential signal quality (impedance, noise, DC drift, motion artifact), or readiness to work to our defined specifications Awareness of skin-contact biocompatibility (ISO 10993) and, ideally, the IEC 60601-1 patient-safety context Willingness to sign an NDA and assign resulting IP An NDA is signed before any disclosure of confidential specifications. We intend to patent the resulting material.

Project ID: 40536707