Bioelectrochemical Interface Engineering: Toward the Fabrication of Electrochemical Biosensors, Biofuel Cells, and Self-Powered Logic Biosensors

Abstract

Over the past decade, researchers have devoted considerable attention to the integration of living organisms with electronic elements to yield bioelectronic devices. Not only is the integration of DNA, enzymes, or whole cells with electronics of scientific interest, but it has many versatile potential applications. Researchers are using these ideas to fabricate biosensors for analytical applications and to assemble biofuel cells (BFCs) and biomolecule-based devices. Other research efforts include the development of biocomputing systems for information processing. In this Account, we focus on our recent progress in engineering at the bioelectrochemical interface (BECI) for the rational design and construction of important bioelectronic devices, ranging from electrochemical (EC-) biosensors to BFCs, and self-powered logic biosensors. Hydrogels and sol-gels provide attractive materials for the immobilization of enzymes because they make EC-enzyme biosensors stable and even functional in extreme environments. We use a layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique to fabricate multicomponent thin films on the BECI at the nanometer scale. Additionally, we demonstrate how carbon nanomaterials have paved the way for new and improved EC-enzyme biosensors. In addition to the widely reported BECI-based electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)-type aptasensors, we integrate the LBL technique with our previously developed "solid-state probe" technique for redox probes immobilization on electrode surfaces to design and fabricate BECI-based differential pulse voltammetry (DPV)-type aptasensors. BFCs can directly harvest energy from ambient biofuels as green energy sources, which could lead to their application as simple, flexible, and portable power sources. Porous materials provide favorable microenvironments for enzyme immobilization, which can enhance BFC power output. Furthermore, by introducing aptamer-based logic systems to BFCs, such systems could be applied as self-powered and intelligent aptasensors for the logic detection. We have developed biocomputing keypad lock security systems which can be also used for intelligent medical diagnostics. BECI engineering provides a simple but effective approach toward the design and fabrication of EC-biosensors, BFCs, and self-powered logic biosensors, which will make essential contributions in the development of creative and practical bioelectronic devices. The exploration of novel interface engineering applications and the creation of new fabrication concepts or methods merit further attention.

Adsorption of DNA onto gold nanoparticles and graphene oxide: surface science and applications

“…For these reasons, DNA has been a very popular molecule for biosensor development in the past two decades. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Aside from molecular recognition, DNA/surface interaction has attracted more and more attention for the following two reasons. First, many technologies require DNA immobilization and one of the primary examples is DNA microarrays, where glass is often used as a substrate.…”

Effects of Polyethylene Glycol on DNA Adsorption and Hybridization on Gold Nanoparticles and Graphene Oxide

“…Interfacing DNA with various nanomaterials has produced a diverse range of functional hybrid materials for numerous applications, including drug delivery, [1][2][3] biosensor development, [4][5][6][7][8][9] bioelectronics, 10,11 enzyme immobilization, 12,13 and nanotechnology. 14,15 DNA carries the functional roles of molecular recognition and can also act as an antisense agent.…”

Fabrication of New Liquid Crystal Device Using Layer-by-Layer Thin Film Process

“…The LBL process enables the production of homogeneous multifunctional multilayers with a controlled method. Moreover, it can be applied to a variety of substrates (e.g., glass and quartz slides, silicon wafers, and polymeric films) to evaluate the performance of electrical conductivity [27,28], sensing [29,30], and energy harvesting [31].…”