Project Details
Projekt
Highly Sensitive Nanostructured Electrical Paper Sensors: Low-Cost and Fast Detection of Protein Biomarkers
Applicant
Dr. Firat Güder
Subject Area
Microsystems
Term
from 2013 to 2016
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 246476670
The research plan proposed herein outlines a two year long project which will focus on the development of innovative paper-based, highly sensitive and low-cost nanosensors for the detection of protein based biomarkers in whole blood, plasma or serum solutions. The sensor will employ highly ordered, very long planar nanowires on the paper surface that will allow detection of a very small quantity of proteins in a solution. Integration of ordered planar high aspect ratio nanostructures on paper substrates has not been demonstrated until now and is expected to improve the cost and performance (turnaround time, sensitivity and accuracy) of protein assays significantly. Fabrication of well controlled nanostructures on the plain paper surface is not possible. Therefore, in this research the issues concerning the paper surface such as high porosity and roughness will be addressed. A novel patterning technique, namely inverted soft near field phase shift lithography, will be implemented to generate centimeter-long planar nanowires on the tuned paper surface. The electrical conductivity of the nanowires is highly sensitive to the chemical species residing on their surfaces due to the confined geometries. When functionalized with the appropriate reagents for molecular recognition, such as commercially available antibodies, changes in electrical conductivity within the nanowires induced by the surface can be directly correlated with the protein concentration in solution. Thus, appropriate antibodies specific to the protein of interest and surface linking agents will be explored for surface functionalization. In addition, for accurate monitoring of the sensor signals (i.e. electrical conductance of the nanowires), stable electrical contacts with suitable electronic properties are required. For this purpose, various contact types and fabrication methods will be evaluated as part of the planned research. After the development of the paper-based nanosensor, detailed experiments will be carried out to investigate the properties of the generated nanostructures as well as the entire sensor. For demonstration, the sensor will be used for the detection of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) which is an important cardiac marker for the diagnosis of cardiac injury. In the last part of the project, I will spend time designing and manufacturing a handheld analyzer which can easily be used for point-of-care diagnostics.
DFG Programme
Research Fellowships
International Connection
USA
