In this chapter, nanomaterial-assisted bioelectronic devices are discussed, focusing on the

application to the biocomputer. Specifically, bioelectronic devices developed using only

biomaterials, particularly using the representative biomaterials including protein and nu­

cleic acids, are discussed first. Next, several nanomaterials, utilized largely for developing

bioelectronic devices, are provided with the classified sections composed of metal, carbon,

and 2D nanomaterials (TMD and MXene). Then, nanomaterial-assisted protein-based

bioelectronic devices are described based on the classification divided by widely studied

types of bioelectronic devices such as biomemory, biologic gate/bioprocessors, and bio­

transistors. Next, nanomaterial-assisted nucleic acid–based bioelectronic devices are de­

scribed according to the previous division. Finally, future perspectives are provided, such

as the current limitations of nanomaterial-assisted bioelectronic devices and technologies

that are considered suitable to combine with bioelectronic devices for future bioelectronics

towards the biocomputer.

17.2 Biomaterial-Based Bioelectronic Devices

17.2.1 Protein-Based Bioelectronic Devices

The main purpose of bioelectronics is to implement the electronic functions of conven­

tional silicon-based electronic devices such as memory and logic gate functions on the

biochip using biomaterials. Among various biomaterials, proteins have several inherent

properties suitable for realizing this concept. For example, metalloproteins have metal

ions in their structures, and those metal ions have a huge potential for being applied in

biological fields from biosensing to bioelectronics [5]. Due to the metal ions, the me­

talloprotein has its essential redox property through the switch of its metal ion states by

FIGURE 17.1

Nanomaterial-assisted bioelectronic devices towards bioelectronics.

Nanomaterial-Assisted Devices

271