ElViS - Electrochemical Virus (Covid-19) Sensors based on Printed and Langmuir Blodgett assembled 2D materials; fast, cheap, reliable, point of care devices.

• Applicant: Beata Maria Szydlowska, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Microsystems ; Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials
• Term: from 2022 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 471726913

The objective of this project is to develop an inexpensive (< Eur 3) point-of-service, self-administered testing platform for rapid (< 15 min) and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 from human saliva samples which will be simultaneously inclusive to the whole range of individuals in the global society. Initial stage of the project will be concerning development of ink suitable for Langmuir Blodgett (LB) and Aerosol Jet Printing (AJP) and characterized by long time stability in environmental conditions as well prolongated shelf life. The low cost is enabled by the use of Liquid Phase Exfoliated graphene / PtSe2 interdigitated electrodes (IDEs), rapidly prototyped by AJP and LB with careful consideration of size dependent properties of the material building the active platform. The high manufacturing throughput of both these techniques will be run in parallel. Next to determining best suited nanosheets size gan IDE geometry it will enable immediate, massive deployment of proposed sensing technology in addition to providing the possibility of multiple tests per patient, allowing for statistical analysis that will minimize false negatives or positives. The graphene IDEs will be functionalized with polyclonal and/or monoclonal antibodies that are highly specific to the S1 spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virion to form the biosensing platform. The high surface area of the printed graphene IDEs is expected to enable increased antibody loading to allow detection of low concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 (< 200 copies/mL) and amplify electrochemical signaling. The biosensor sensitivity, selectivity, and propensity for false negatives or positives will be evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), < 15 min for incubation and scanning. Importantly, proposed sensors will require very low amounts of saliva (est. volume ~100 uL). That is strikingly beneficial in elderly patients, often suffering from dry mouth where collecting such an amount is not possible. The SARS-CoV-2 biosensing platform will be adapted into a form factor compatible with existing portable electrochemical potentiostats (e.g., glucometers used to read home glucose test strips) so that data can be easily acquired by the end user and transmitted, if desired, by Bluetooth to a laptop/smartphone for further on-site analysis. Importantly not only costs but the reliability of the sensor response is here of an utmost importance. Developed sensors must be characterized by low at best close to zero number of false positive and negative results. Ultimately, this platform will enable widespread and rapid home testing for individuals in quarantine or “gate check” testing to prevent infected individuals from entering crowded areas such as factories, airports and health care facilities. As a future outlook, the research effort of this project could help to quickly address new virus mutations and variants as well to other viruses making it extremally beneficial for the society.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Mark Hersam