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Nanoparticles are recognized as highly attractive tunable materials for designing field-effect biosensors with enhanced performance. In this work, we present a theoretical model for electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor capacitors (EISCAP) decorated with ligand-stabilized charged gold nanoparticles. The charged AuNPs are taken into account as additional, nanometer-sized local gates. The capacitance-voltage (C–V) curves and constant-capacitance (ConCap) signals of the AuNP-decorated EISCAPs have been simulated. The impact of the AuNP coverage on the shift of the C–V curves and the ConCap signals was also studied experimentally on Al–p-Si–SiO₂ EISCAPs decorated with positively charged aminooctanethiol-capped AuNPs. In addition, the surface of the EISCAPs, modified with AuNPs, was characterized by scanning electron microscopy for different immobilization times of the nanoparticles.
Field-effect-based electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) sensors were modified with a bilayer of positively charged weak polyelectrolyte (poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)) and probe single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and are used for the detection of complementary single-stranded target DNA (cDNA) in different test solutions. The sensing mechanism is based on the detection of the intrinsic molecular charge of target cDNA molecules after the hybridization event between cDNA and immobilized probe ssDNA. The test solutions contain synthetic cDNA oligonucleotides (with a sequence of tuberculosis mycobacteria genome) or PCR-amplified DNA (which origins from a template DNA strand that has been extracted from Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis-spiked human sputum samples), respectively. Sensor responses up to 41 mV have been measured for the test solutions with DNA, while only small signals of ∼5 mV were detected for solutions without DNA. The lower detection limit of the EIS sensors was ∼0.3 nM, and the sensitivity was ∼7.2 mV/decade. Fluorescence experiments using SybrGreen I fluorescence dye support the electrochemical results.
The integration of biomolecular logic principles with electronic transducers allows designing novel digital biosensors with direct electrical output, logically triggered drug-release, and closed-loop sense/act/treat systems. This opens new opportunities for advanced personalized medicine in the context of theranostics. In the present work, we will discuss selected examples of recent developments in the field of interfacing enzyme logic gates with electrodes and semiconductor field-effect devices. Special attention is given to an enzyme OR/Reset logic gate based on a capacitive field-effect electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor sensor modified with a multi-enzyme membrane. Further examples are a digital adrenaline biosensor based on an AND logic gate with binary YES/NO output and an integrated closed-loop sense/act/treat system comprising an amperometric glucose sensor, a hydrogel actuator, and an insulin (drug) sensor.
A new and simple method for nanostructuring using conventional photolithography and layer expansion or pattern-size reduction technique is presented, which can further be applied for the fabrication of different nanostructures and nano-devices. The method is based on the conversion of a photolithographically patterned metal layer to a metal-oxide mask with improved pattern-size resolution using thermal oxidation. With this technique, the pattern size can be scaled down to several nanometer dimensions. The proposed method is experimentally demonstrated by preparing nanostructures with different configurations and layouts, like circles, rectangles, trapezoids, “fluidic-channel”-, “cantilever”- and meander-type structures.