A Rapidly Stabilizing Water-Gated Field-Effect Transistor Based on Printed Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Biosensing Applications
Alireza Molazemhosseini, Fabrizio Antonio Viola, F. Berger, Nicolas F. Zorn, Jana Zaumseil, Mario Caironi
Abstract
Biosensors are expected to revolutionize disease management through provision of low-cost diagnostic platforms for molecular and pathogenic detection with high sensitivity and short response time. In this context, there has been an ever-increasing interest in using electrolyte-gated field-effect transistors (EG-FETs) for biosensing applications owing to their expanding potential of being employed for label-free detection of a broad range of biomarkers with high selectivity and sensitivity while operating at sub-volt working potentials. Although organic semiconductors have been widely utilized as the channel in EG-FETs, primarily due to their compatibility with cost-effective low-temperature solution-processing fabrication techniques, alternative carbon-based platforms have the potential to provide similar advantages with improved electronic performances. Here, we propose the use of inkjet-printed polymer-wrapped monochiral single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWCNTs) for the channel of EG-FETs in an aqueous environment. In particular, we show that our EG-CNTFETs require only an hour of stabilization before producing a highly stable response suitable for biosensing, with a drastic time reduction with respect to the most exploited organic semiconductor for biosensors. As a proof-of-principle, we successfully employed our water-gated device to detect the well-known biotin-streptavidin binding event.