Thermogel-gated field-effect transistor biosensors based on micellar self-assembly for glucose sensing

Real-time and accurate glucose detection is essential for healthcare management. Conventional enzymatic sensors are often limited by instability and complex fabrication, while non-enzymatic alternatives often lack sufficient selectivity.

We develop a novel field-effect transistor biosensor (bio-FET) integrated with a thermo-responsive hydrogel for enzyme-free glucose sensing. The hydrogel is formed through in situ micellar self-assembly of phenylboronic acid-terminated Pluronic F127 copolymers (F127-PBA), exhibiting reversible sol-gel transition near physiological temperature. Serving as a conformal dielectric layer on the In₂O₃ channels, the F127-PBA hydrogel film enables highly sensitive and selective glucose detection across a wide concentration range (100 nM to 1 M). The sensing mechanism relies on the charge state shift of PBA groups upon glucose binding, transducing biochemical signals into measurable electrical responses with high stability and reproducibility.

This work may provide a versatile and scalable strategy for constructing high-performance FET biosensors in real-time glucose detection.