NANOPARTICLES, NANOPOROUS AND CARBON NANOTUBE BASED DEVICES FOR BIO-MOLECULAR DETECTION

摘要

Recent awareness of the potential for the inadvertent or deliberate introduction of virus, bacteria, or pathogens has made stand-alone sensing an important issue in national security. While analytical instruments and laboratory procedures are available for collecting the required data, such approaches are expensive and time consuming. Progress in the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials and continuously emerging nanotechnologies promise dramatic changes in sensor design and capabilities. The versatility of the carbon-carbon bond, attaching with different functional groups to the end of the carbon nanotube (CNT), offers the potential for it to be used as a new material for sensors in (bio) chemical applications. Nanowires modified with specific receptors can be assembled into integrated nano-biosensors for the parallel detection and diagnosis of trace amounts of dangerous viruses and bacteria. Porous silicon (PS) offers a controllable surface topography at a nanometer resolution in three dimensions, and allows chemical surface modification. The basic concept involves linking the antigen to the nanotube while retaining its conformation, which in turn induces an antibody response without triggering the immune system. Similarly, using sensitised and patterned porous material surfaces; detection is possible in both the liquid and gas phase, thus allowing the parallel detection of multiple agents, as the process is highly multiplexable. A unique and important aspect of PS relates to its use as a sensitive biosensor for monitoring bio-interactions related to antigen-antibody of specific pathogens and DNA hybridization.