Conductive Antifouling Sensing Coating: A Bionic Design Inspired by Natural Cell Membrane

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Surface Chemistry
• Biosensor Technology

Background:

• Antifouling coatings are crucial for biosensor functionality, but conventional materials often suffer from poor conductivity.
• Natural cell membranes exhibit excellent antifouling properties, offering a model for advanced coating development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a conductive, biomimetic antifouling coating for biosensing interfaces.
• To overcome the limitations of existing antifouling coatings, particularly their low conductivity.

Main Methods:

• A composite coating was constructed using polyethylene glycol-Au gel as a support and electron transfer layer.
• Phospholipids and ampholytes were applied to create a biomimetic hydration layer for antifouling.
• The coating's performance was evaluated in various biological matrices (whole blood, serum, urine).

Main Results:

• The developed coating demonstrated significantly low adsorption in complex biological samples.
• The coating was successfully integrated into multimodal clinical assay systems.
• These systems showed favorable concordance with established clinical results.

Conclusions:

• The conductive biomimetic coating effectively prevents biofouling on biosensors.
• This advancement removes a key barrier to the practical application of biosensing technologies.
• The coating holds significant potential for improving clinical diagnostics and other biosensing applications.