Biofield-effect protein-sensor: Plasma functionalization of polyaniline, protein immobilization, and sensing mechanism

摘要

We report the fabrication of a biofield-effect protein-sensor (BioFEP) based on atmospheric-pressure plasma (AP) treatment of a conducting polyaniline (PANI) film. Successive H2 and O2 AP (OHAP) treatment generated dominant hydrophilic –OH and O=CO– functional groups on the PANI film surface, which served as strong binding sites to immobilize bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein molecules. The output current changes of the BioFEP as a function of BSA concentration were obtained. The resistance of the OHAP surface could be sensitively increased from 2.5 × 108 Ω to 2.0 × 1012 Ω with increasing BSA concentrations in the range of 0.025–4 μg/ml. The results suggest that the method is a simple and cost-effective tool to determine the concentration of BSA by measuring electrical resistance.