Attomolar detection of virus by liquid coplanar-gate graphene transistor on plastic

Abstract

The direct method of detecting a virus with extremely low concentration is recommended for the diagnosis of viral disease. In this study, coplanar-gate graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) were built on flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrates for the attomolar detection of a virus. The GFETs exhibited a very low detection limit of 47.8 aM with relatively low source/drain voltage due to aqueous dielectric media which stabilizes viruses and antibodies for specific bonding. The antibody as a probe molecule was decorated on a graphene surface using 1-pyrenebutanoic acid succinimidyl ester that had previously been immobilized on a graphene surface. The Dirac point voltage shifted downward after dropping the virus solution, due to the electrostatic gating effect of graphene in the antigen (namely, virus)-antibody complex. The virus detection platform used in this study is expected to be beneficial for direct diagnosis in saline environments, since the performances of GFETs were not significantly affected by the presence of Na+ and Cl-. Furthermore, since our flexible and transparent virus sensors can be used in a wearable device, they provide a simple and fast method for diagnosing viruses.