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Addressing Signal Drift and Screening for Detection of Biomarkers with Carbon Nanotube Transistors.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Albarghouthi, FM; Semeniak, D; Khanani, I; Doherty, JL; Smith, BN; Salfity, M; MacFarlane, Q; Karappur, A; Noyce, SG; Williams, NX; Joh, DY ...
Published in: ACS nano
February 2024

Electrical biosensors, including transistor-based devices (i.e., BioFETs), have the potential to offer versatile biomarker detection in a simple, low-cost, scalable, and point-of-care manner. Semiconducting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are among the most explored nanomaterial candidates for BioFETs due to their high electrical sensitivity and compatibility with diverse fabrication approaches. However, when operating in solutions at biologically relevant ionic strengths, CNT-based BioFETs suffer from debilitating levels of signal drift and charge screening, which are often unaccounted for or sidestepped (but not addressed) by testing in diluted solutions. In this work, we present an ultrasensitive CNT-based BioFET called the D4-TFT, an immunoassay with an electrical readout, which overcomes charge screening and drift-related limitations of BioFETs. In high ionic strength solution (1X PBS), the D4-TFT repeatedly and stably detects subfemtomolar biomarker concentrations in a point-of-care form factor by increasing the sensing distance in solution (Debye length) and mitigating signal drift effects. Debye length screening and biofouling effects are overcome using a poly(ethylene glycol)-like polymer brush interface (POEGMA) above the device into which antibodies are printed. Simultaneous testing of a control device having no antibodies printed over the CNT channel confirms successful detection of the target biomarker via an on-current shift caused by antibody sandwich formation. Drift in the target signal is mitigated by a combination of: (1) maximizing sensitivity by appropriate passivation alongside the polymer brush coating; (2) using a stable electrical testing configuration; and (3) enforcing a rigorous testing methodology that relies on infrequent DC sweeps rather than static or AC measurements. These improvements are realized in a relatively simple device using printed CNTs and antibodies for a low-cost, versatile platform for the ongoing pursuit of point-of-care BioFETs.

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Published In

ACS nano

DOI

EISSN

1936-086X

ISSN

1936-0851

Publication Date

February 2024

Related Subject Headings

  • Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
 

Citation

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Albarghouthi, F. M., Semeniak, D., Khanani, I., Doherty, J. L., Smith, B. N., Salfity, M., … Franklin, A. D. (2024). Addressing Signal Drift and Screening for Detection of Biomarkers with Carbon Nanotube Transistors. ACS Nano. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.3c11679
Albarghouthi, Faris M., Daria Semeniak, Iman Khanani, James L. Doherty, Brittany N. Smith, Matthew Salfity, Quentin MacFarlane, et al. “Addressing Signal Drift and Screening for Detection of Biomarkers with Carbon Nanotube Transistors.ACS Nano, February 2024. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.3c11679.
Albarghouthi FM, Semeniak D, Khanani I, Doherty JL, Smith BN, Salfity M, et al. Addressing Signal Drift and Screening for Detection of Biomarkers with Carbon Nanotube Transistors. ACS nano. 2024 Feb;
Albarghouthi, Faris M., et al. “Addressing Signal Drift and Screening for Detection of Biomarkers with Carbon Nanotube Transistors.ACS Nano, Feb. 2024. Epmc, doi:10.1021/acsnano.3c11679.
Albarghouthi FM, Semeniak D, Khanani I, Doherty JL, Smith BN, Salfity M, MacFarlane Q, Karappur A, Noyce SG, Williams NX, Joh DY, Andrews JB, Chilkoti A, Franklin AD. Addressing Signal Drift and Screening for Detection of Biomarkers with Carbon Nanotube Transistors. ACS nano. 2024 Feb;
Journal cover image

Published In

ACS nano

DOI

EISSN

1936-086X

ISSN

1936-0851

Publication Date

February 2024

Related Subject Headings

  • Nanoscience & Nanotechnology