433 MHz Lithium Niobate Microbalance Aptamer-Coated Whole Zika Virus Sensor With 370 Hz/ng Sensitivity

Abstract

Three different microbalances were coated with aptamers with thiol termination designed to attach to the capsid proteins of the whole Zika virus. The first microbalance was a 5 MHz commercial AT-cut (QSense) quartz microbalance that showed 1 Hz/ng sensitivity with minimum detectable signal (MDS) of 1 ng. The second sensor was a 10 MHz AT-cut quartz sensor that was extracted from a communication filter. It had 10 Hz/ng sensitivity and MDS of 0.1 ng. The third sensor was a 433 MHz Lithium Niobate (LiNbO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> ) sensor that was also extracted from a communication filter. It had 370 Hz/ng sensitivity and 2.7 pg MDS. These studies verify binding of the aptamers to the sensor surface and the Zika virus. They also clearly show the advantage of using the LiNbO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> high frequency microbalance.