Gravimetric biosensors

Gravimetric transducers produce a signal based on a change in mass. These transducers can be used to construct gas sensors or biosensors using odorant binding proteins (OBPs) as recognition elements for small volatile organic compounds. The methods described in this chapter are based on the immobilization of the OBPs onto functionalized (activated) self-assembled monolayer (SAMs) on gold and on nanocrystalline diamond surfaces. Depending on the surface immobilization methods used to fabricate the biosensor, recombinant proteins can be engineered to express six histidine tags either on the N-terminal or C-terminal of the proteins and these can also be used to facilitate protein immobilization. These methods are used to produce functional sensors based on quartz crystal microbalances or surface acoustic wave devices and are also applicable to other types of gravimetric transducers.