Photo-Enhanced Chemo-Transistor Platform for Ultrasensitive Assay of Small Molecules

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 May 10;145(18):10035-10044. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c13655. Epub 2023 Apr 25.

Abstract

Compared with traditional assay techniques, field-effect transistors (FETs) have advantages such as fast response, high sensitivity, being label-free, and point-of-care detection, while lacking generality to detect a wide range of small molecules since most of them are electrically neutral with a weak doping effect. Here, we demonstrate a photo-enhanced chemo-transistor platform based on a synergistic photo-chemical gating effect in order to overcome the aforementioned limitation. Under light irradiation, accumulated photoelectrons generated from covalent organic frameworks offer a photo-gating modulation, amplifying the response to small molecule adsorption including methylglyoxal, p-nitroaniline, nitrobenzene, aniline, and glyoxal when measuring the photocurrent. We perform testing in buffer, artificial urine, sweat, saliva, and diabetic mouse serum. The limit of detection is down to 10-19 M methylglyoxal, about 5 orders of magnitude lower than existing assay technologies. This work develops a photo-enhanced FET platform to detect small molecules or other neutral species with enhanced sensitivity for applications in fields such as biochemical research, health monitoring, and disease diagnosis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biosensing Techniques* / methods
  • Body Fluids*
  • Mice
  • Pyruvaldehyde
  • Saliva
  • Transistors, Electronic

Substances

  • Pyruvaldehyde