Shrink-induced graphene sensor for alpha-fetoprotein detection with low-cost self-assembly and label-free assay

Abstract

Combination of shrink induced nano-composites technique and layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembled graphene challenges controlling surface morphology. Adjusting shrink temperature achieves tunability on graphene surface morphology on shape memory polymers, and it promises to be an alternative in fields of high-surface-area conductors and molecular detection. In this study, self-assembled graphene on a shrink polymer substrate exhibits nanowrinkles after heating. Induced nanowrinkles on graphene with different shrink temperature shows distinct surface roughness and wettability. As a result, it becomes more hydrophilic with higher shrink temperatures. The tunable wettability promises to be utilized in, for example, microfluidic devices. The graphene on shrink polymer also exhibits capability of being used in sensing applications for pH and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) detection with advantages of label free and low cost, due to self-assembly technique, easy functionalization, and antigen-antibody reaction on graphene surface. The detection limit of AFP detection is down to 1 pg/mL, and therefore the sensor also has a significant potential for biosensing as it relies on low-cost self-assembly and label-free assay.

Keywords

graphene / self-assembly / shrink polymer / AFP / label-free / biosensor

References

[1] Schwierz F. Graphene transistors. Nature Nanotechnology, 2010, 5(7): 487–496

[2] Chen D, Tang L, Li J. Graphene-based materials in electrochemistry. Chemical Society Reviews, 2010, 39(8): 3157–3180

[3] Yang W, Ratinac K R, Ringer S P, Carbon nanomaterials in biosensors: Should you use nanotubes or graphene? Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2010, 49(12): 2114–2138

[4] Novoselov K S, Geim A K, Morozov S V, Electric field effect in atomically thin carbon films. Science, 2004, 306(5696): 666–669

[5] Blake P, Hill E W, Castro Neto A H, Making graphene visible. Applied Physics Letters, 2007, 91(6): 063124

[6] Li X, Cai W, An J, Large-area synthesis of high-quality and uniform graphene films on copper foils. Science, 2009, 324(5932): 1312–1314

[7] Mattevi C, Kim H, Chhowalla M. A review of chemical vapour deposition of graphene on copper. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2011, 21(10): 3324–3334

[8] Yu Q, Jauregui L A, Wu W, Control and characterization of individual grains and grain boundaries in graphene grown by chemical vapour deposition. Nature Materials, 2011, 10(6): 443–449

[9] Sutter P. Epitaxial graphene: How silicon leaves the scene. Nature Materials, 2009, 8(3): 171–172

[10] Kosynkin D V, Higginbotham A L, Sinitskii A, Longitudinal unzipping of carbon nanotubes to form graphene nanoribbons. Nature, 2009, 458(7240): 872–876

[11] Biswas A, Bayer I S, Biris A S, Advances in top–down and bottom–up surface nanofabrication: Techniques, applications & future prospects. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 2012, 170(1–2): 2–27

[12] Wei W, Song Y, Wang L, An implantable microelectrode array for simultaneous L-glutamate and electrophysiological recordings in vivo. Microsystems & Nanoengineering, 2015, 1: 15002

[13] Sando S, Zhang B, Cui T A. Low-cost and label-free alpha-fetoprotein sensor based on self-assembled graphene on shrink polymer. In: Proceedings of 2015 28th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). Estoril: IEEE, 2015, 324–327

[14] Fu C, Grimes A, Long M, Tunable nanowrinkles on shape memory polymer sheets. Advanced Materials, 2009, 21(44): 4472–4476

[15] Sohn I Y, Kim D J, Jung J H, pH sensing characteristics and biosensing application of solution-gated reduced graphene oxide field-effect transistors. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 2013, 45: 70–76

[16] Anan H, Kamahori M, Ishige Y, Redox-potential sensor array based on extended-gate field-effect transistors with w-ferrocenylalkanethiol-modified gold electrodes. Sensors and Actuators B, Chemical, 2013, 187: 254–261

[17] Patolsky F, Zheng G, Lieber C M. Fabrication of silicon nanowire devices for ultrasensitive, label-free, real-time detection of biological and chemical species. Nature Protocols, 2006, 1(4): 1711–1724

[18] Chen X, Jia X, Han J, Electrochemical immunosensor for simultaneous detection of multiplex cancer biomarkers based on graphene nanocomposites. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 2013, 50: 356–361

[19] Li X, Zhao C, Liu X. A paper-based microfluidic biosensor integrating zinc oxide nanowires for electrochemical glucose detection. Microsystems & Nanoengineering, 2015, 1: 15014

[20] Hideshima S, Sato R, Inoue S, Detection of tumor marker in blood serum using antibody-modified field effect transistor with optimized BSA blocking. Sensors and Actuators B, Chemical, 2012, 161(1): 146–150

[21] Cole D J, Ang P K, Loh K P. Ion adsorption at the graphene/electrolyte interface. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2011, 2(14): 1799–1803

[22] Nagashio K, Toriumi A. Density-of-states limited contact resistance in graphene field-effect transistors. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2011, 50(7R): 070108

[23] van Hal R E G, Eijkel J C T, Bergveld P. A novel description of ISFET sensitivity with the buffer capacity and double-layer capacitance as key parameters. Sensors and Actuators B, Chemical, 1995, 24(1–3): 201–205

[24] Israelachvili J N. Intermolecular and Surface Forces. 3rd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2011

[25] Vacic A, Criscione J M, Rajan N K, Determination of molecular configuration by Debye length modulation. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2011, 133(35): 13886–13889

[26] Park C W, Ah C S, Ahn C G, Analysis of configuration of surface-immobilized proteins by Si nanochannel field effect transistor biosensor. Procedia Chemistry, 2009, 1(1): 674–677

[27] Kim A, Ah C S, Park C W, Direct label-free electrical immunodetection in human serum using a flow-through-apparatus approach with integrated field-effect transistors. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 2010, 25(7): 1767–1773

[28] Stern E, Wagner R, Sigworth F J, Importance of the Debye screening length on nanowire field effect transistor sensors. Nano Letters, 2007, 7(11): 3405–3409

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the assistance of fabrication and characterization from Minnesota Nano Center and the Characterization Facility at the University of Minnesota.

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the source, and a link is provided to the Creative Commons license, indicating if changes were made.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2017 The Author(s) 2017. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn