Enhanced Probe Bonding and Fluorescence Properties through Annealed Graphene Oxide Nanosheets

Graphene oxide (GO) has been widely used in biological sensing studies because of its excellent physical and chemical properties. In particular, the rich functional groups on the surface of GO can effectively enhance the bonding of biomolecules and serve as an efficient sensing substrate. However, when biomolecules are labeled with fluorescence, the GO interface affects the biomolecules by reducing the fluorescence properties and limiting their applications in biosensing. Here, we establish an annealed GO (aGO) substrate through the annealing process, which can effectively increase the bonding amount of a DNA probe because of the accumulation of oxygen atoms on the surface without significantly damaging the nanosheet structure. Furthermore, we prove that the aGO substrate can effectively maintain its fluorescence performance and stability by exposing more graphic domains. Overall, this study successfully verifies that GO's interface annealing modification can be used as an alternative innovative interface application in biosensing.