Direct growth of vertically-oriented graphene for field-effect transistor biosensor

Shun Mao; Kehan Yu; Jingbo Chang; Douglas A Steeber; Leonidas E Ocola; Junhong Chen

doi:10.1038/srep01696

Direct growth of vertically-oriented graphene for field-effect transistor biosensor

Sci Rep. 2013:3:1696. doi: 10.1038/srep01696.

Authors

Shun Mao¹, Kehan Yu, Jingbo Chang, Douglas A Steeber, Leonidas E Ocola, Junhong Chen

Affiliation

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 3200 North Cramer Street, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA.

Abstract

A sensitive and selective field-effect transistor (FET) biosensor is demonstrated using vertically-oriented graphene (VG) sheets labeled with gold nanoparticle (NP)-antibody conjugates. VG sheets are directly grown on the sensor electrode using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method and function as the sensing channel. The protein detection is accomplished through measuring changes in the electrical signal from the FET sensor upon the antibody-antigen binding. The novel biosensor with unique graphene morphology shows high sensitivity (down to ~2 ng/ml or 13 pM) and selectivity towards specific proteins. The PECVD growth of VG presents a one-step and reliable approach to prepare graphene-based electronic biosensors.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation*
Conductometry / instrumentation*
Equipment Design
Equipment Failure Analysis
Gold / chemistry*
Graphite / chemistry*
Immunoassay / instrumentation*
Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Transistors, Electronic*

Substances

Gold
Graphite