Electrical detection of biomolecular adsorption on sprayed graphene sheets

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biophysics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Studying biomolecular interactions with graphitic surfaces is crucial for developing novel biosensors and functional materials.
• Existing methods for characterizing binding affinities can be complex and lack scalability.
• Graphene-based field-effect transistors (GFETs) offer a sensitive platform for electrical detection of biomolecular binding events.

Purpose of the Study:

• To electrically characterize the binding affinities of graphite-binding peptides to a graphite surface using sprayed graphene field-effect transistors (SGFETs).
• To validate the SGFET platform by comparing its results with those obtained from atomic force microscopy (AFM) and mechanically exfoliated graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs).
• To establish sprayed graphene as a scalable platform for studying biomolecular adsorption on graphitic surfaces.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of SGFETs using solution-exfoliated graphene.
• Electrical characterization of peptide binding affinities using SGFETs.
• Comparative analysis using AFM and mechanically exfoliated GFETs to confirm SGFET validity.

Main Results:

• Binding affinities of graphite-binding peptides were successfully characterized using SGFETs.
• Binding constants obtained from SGFETs showed good agreement with those measured by GFETs and AFM.
• The SGFET platform demonstrated comparable accuracy to established methods.

Conclusions:

• Sprayed graphene films provide a scalable and effective platform for studying biomolecular adsorption on graphite.
• SGFETs are a valid and reliable tool for electrically characterizing binding affinities of peptides to graphitic surfaces.
• This research paves the way for developing advanced graphene-based biosensing applications.