Fabrication and sensing property for conducting polymer nanowire-based biosensor for detection of immunoglobulin G

Conducting polymers are excellent sensing materials in the design of bioanalytical sensors because of their electronic conductivity, low energy optical transitions, biocompatibility, and room temperature operation. Among them, Polypyrrole (Ppy) is one of the most extensively used conducting polymers because of a number of properties such as redox activity, rapid electron transfer, and ability to link a variety of biomolecules to pyrrole groups by chemical treatment. In this study, Ppy nanowires were synthesized by an electrospinning method. The nanowires were prepared from a solution mixture of Ppy and poly(ethylene oxide). The method of detection in such a device is based on the selective binding of antigen onto an antibody that is covalently attached to the nanowires. Thus, anti-IgG was immobilized on Ppy nanowires using an EDC {[N-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl)-N₂-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride]}-NHS(N-hydrosuccinimide) modified technique. Fluorescence images of BSA–FITC (fluorescein isothiocyanate labeling of bovine serum albumin) conjugation demonstrated that antibody was functionalized on the Ppy nanowires without non-specific binding and facilitated selective detection of antigen. Current–voltage (I–V) characterization was used to monitor the change in the conductivity of nanowires while the specific binding interaction occurred. These results of electrical properties enable Ppy nanowire-based biosensors to detect biomolecules in real-time.     

Tuning the gas sensing performance of single PEDOT nanowire devices

This paper reports the synthesis and dopant dependent electrical and sensing properties of single poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanowire sensors. Dopant type (i.e. polystyrenesulfonate (PSS(-)) and perchlorate (ClO(4)(-))) and solvent (i.e. acetonitrile and 1 : 1 water-acetonitrile mixture) were adjusted to change the conjugation length and hydrophilicity of nanowires which resulted in change of the electrical properties and sensing performance. Temperature dependent coefficient of resistance (TCR) indicated that the electrical properties are greatly dependent on dopants and electrolyte where greater disorder was found in PSS(-) doped PEDOT nanowires compared to ClO(4)(-) doped nanowires. Upon exposure to different analytes including water vapor and volatile organic compounds, these nanowire devices displayed substantially different sensing characteristics. ClO(4)(-) doped PEDOT nanowires from an acetonitrile bath show superior sensing responses toward less electronegative analytes and followed a power law dependence on the analyte concentration at high partial pressures. These tunable sensing properties were attributed to variation in the conjugation lengths, dopant type and concentration of the wires which may be attributed to two distinct sensing mechanisms: swelling within the bulk of the nanowire and work function modulation of Schottky barrier junction between nanowire and electrodes.     

Biomolecules-carbon nanotubes doped conducting polymer nanocomposites and their sensor application

A simple method for preparing bio-functionalized soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is described. Different proteins such as bovine serum albumin (BSA), cytochrome c and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were used to solubilize low functionality SWNTs in water aided by sonication. The unbound proteins were removed by column chromatography and the SWNT-protein conjugate was used as the sole anionic dopant in electropolymerization of polypyrrole from polymerization solution at pH above the isoelectric point of the protein to provide a negative charge. The morphology of the polypyrrole with SWNT-protein dopant was found to be three-dimensional and fibrous with wide open interlocking pores in contrast to smooth and cauliflower-like for chloride doped polypyrrole. Enhanced sensor performance was demonstrated for hydrogen peroxide detection on polypyrrole/SWCNT-HRP nanocomposites modified electrode. Such nanocomposites can be potentially applied for other biosensor and bio-fuel cell applications.     

DNA Assisted Assembly of Multisegmented Nanowires

This work demonstrates a highly specific and selective assembly of multisegmented nanowires on prepatterned gold electrodes using DNA hybridization. Multisegmented Au/Pd/Au nanowires were synthesized using template‐directed electrodeposition. Two complementary single‐stranded DNAs modified with thiol tags adsorb on gold electrodes and gold segments of nanowires, and enable the nanowires to assemble across electrodes. The assembled nanowires show ohmic contact with minimum contact resistance. Using these nanowires, the temperature dependent electrical resistance and the sensing performance toward hydrogen were investigated. The temperature coefficient of resistance of nanowires was lower than bulk polycrystalline counterpart, because of higher electron scattering at the surface and grain boundaries of nanowires. The nanowires were sensitive toward hydrogen gas at room temperature with a detection limit of 0.5%.     

Sensitive Detection of Elemental Mercury Vapor by Gold Nanoparticle Decorated Carbon Nanotube Sensors

Low-cost, low power consumption gas sensors that can detect or quantify various gas analytes are of increasing interest for various applications ranging from mobile health, to environmental exposure assessment and homeland security. In particular miniature gas sensors based on nanomaterials that can be manufactured in the form of sensor arrays present great potential for the development of portable monitoring devices. In this study, we demonstrate that a chemiresistive nanosensor comprised of single walled carbon nanotubes decorated with gold nanoparticles has impressive sensitivity to elemental mercury (Hg) gas concentrations, with a lower detection limit as low as 2 ppb(v). Furthermore, this nanosensor was found to regenerate, though slowly, without any additional recovery steps. Finally, the mercury vapor sensing mechanism allowed for direct investigations into the origin of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) in carbon nanotubes decorated with Au nanoparticles.     

Single Conducting Polymer Nanowire Based Sequence‐Specific,Base‐Pair‐Length Dependant Label‐free DNA Sensor

We have fabricated a highly sensitive, simple and label‐free single polypyrrole (Ppy) nanowire based conductometric/chemiresistive DNA sensor. The fabrication was optimized in terms of probe DNA sequence immobilization using a linker molecule and using gold‐thiol interaction. Two resultant sensor designs working on two different sensing mechanisms (gating effect and work function based sensors) were tested to establish reliable sensor architecture with higher sensitivity and device‐to‐device reproducibility. The utility of the work function based configuration was demonstrated by detecting 19 base pair (bp) long breast cancer gene sequence with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discrimination with high sensitivity, lower detection limit of ∼10⁻¹⁶ M and wide dynamic range (∼10⁻¹⁶ to 10⁻¹¹ M) in a small sample volume (30 µL). To further demonstrate the utility of the DNA sensor for detection of target sequences with different number of bases, targets with 21 and 36 bases were detected. These sequences have implications in environmental sample analysis or metagenomics. Sensor response showed increase with the number of bases in the target sequence. For long sequence (with 36 bases), effect of DNA alignment on sensor performance was studied.     

As(V) remediation using electrochemically synthesized maghemite nanoparticles

Maghemite nanoparticles were electrochemically synthesized from environmentally benign solutions in ambient conditions and utilized to remediate As(V) from aqueous solution. The average size and surface area of the maghemite nanoparticles were controlled to be 11–23 nm and 41–49 m² g^?1, respectively, by adjusting applied current density. The point of zero charge and crystallinity were independent of size. The effect of size and environmental conditions (i.e., maghemite nanoparticles content, contact time, and solution pH) on the adsorption of As(V) were systematically investigated. Similar to As(V) remediation using zero valent iron nanoparticles (NZVI), the kinetics of adsorption were best described by the pseudo first order model where the remediation is limited by the mass transfer of As(V) to adsorption sites of maghemite. The adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic which fitted with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The results observed in batch study indicate that maghemite nanoparticles were suitable adsorbent for remediating As(V) concentration to the limit (10 μg l^?1) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).     

Electrospun Polyaniline/Poly(ethylene oxide) Composite Nanofibers Based Gas Sensor

Camphor‐10‐sulfonic acid (HCSA) doped polyaniline (PANI)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) composite nanofibers with different compositions (12 to 52 wt.% of PANI) were synthesized by an electrospinning method and their properties including optical, electrical and sensing were systematically investigated. FT‐IR shows that an increase of IR absorbance ratios of aromatic C? C stretching vibration of benzenoid rings of PANI to C? O? C symmetric vibrational modes of PEO confirmed that the PANI content in nanofiber mats increased proportionally with increase in PANI content in electrospinning solution. The band gap of PANI was determined to be 2.5 eV using UV‐Vis spectroscopy. The electrical conductivities of the nanofibers increased with an increase in the PANI content in the nanofibers. Additionally, the sensitivity toward NH₃ increased as the PANI content increased, but branched nanofibers reduced sensing response. The humidity sensitivity changed from positive to negative as the PANI content increased. The electron transport mechanism was studied by measuring the temperature dependence electrical resistivity. The negative temperature coefficient of resistance revealed a semiconducting behavior for the PANI/PEO nanofibers. The activation energy, calculated by Arrhenius plot, increased as the PANI content decreased. The power law indicated that electrons were being transported in a three dimensional matrix, and the longer hopping distance required more hopping energy for electron transport.