Kirigami tripod-based electrode for the development of highly stretchable dengue aptasensor

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Kirigami, a paper art form, offers unique mechanical properties applicable to advanced technologies.
• Biosensors are crucial for rapid disease detection, but often face limitations in flexibility and sensitivity.
• The Dengue virus (DENV) poses a significant global health challenge, necessitating improved diagnostic tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel Kirigami-based electrochemical aptasensor for sensitive and specific detection of DENV antigens.
• To leverage the unique properties of Kirigami for creating a stretchable, movable, and flexible biosensing platform.
• To enhance sensor performance through the integration of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs).

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a stretchable-Kirigami electrode for a flexible electrochemical sensor.
• Synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) using TEM and UV-Vis Spectroscopy.
• Electrochemical validation using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) for DENV antigen detection.

Main Results:

• The Kirigami-based aptasensor successfully detected DENV antigen in the range of 0.1 µg/ml to 1000 µg/ml.
• A highly sensitive detection limit of 0.1 µg/ml was achieved for DENV antigen.
• The sensor exhibited high specificity, showing no reactivity to chikungunya virus antigen, and was validated with human serum samples.

Conclusions:

• The developed Kirigami-tripod-based aptasensor offers a cost-efficient, highly stretchable, and sensitive platform for DENV detection.
• This integrated approach represents a significant advancement in flexible biosensor technology for infectious disease diagnostics.
• The study highlights the potential of Kirigami in creating next-generation wearable and adaptable biosensing devices.