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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

In-vivo Detection of Protein-protein Interactions on Micro-patterned Surfaces
Published on: March 20, 2010
Covalently modified silicon and diamond surfaces: resistance to nonspecific protein adsorption and optimization for
Tami L Lasseter1, Brian H Clare, Nicholas L Abbott
1Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Abstract:
We report the direct covalent functionalization of silicon and diamond surfaces with short ethylene glycol (EG) oligomers via photochemical reaction of the hydrogen-terminated surfaces with terminal vinyl groups of the oligomers, and the use of these monolayers to control protein binding at surfaces. Photochemical modification of Si(111) and polycrystalline diamond surfaces produces EG monolayers linked via Si-C bond formation (silicon) or C-C bond formation (diamond). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to characterize the monolayer composition. Measurements using fluorescently labeled proteins show that the EG-functionalized surfaces effectively resist nonspecific adsorption of proteins. Additionally, we demonstrate the use of mixed monolayers on silicon and diamond and apply these surfaces to control specific versus nonspecific binding to optimize a model protein sensing assay.
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