Argon–water DBD pretreatment and vapor‐phase silanization of silica: Comparison with wet‐chemical processes

Abstract

AbstractA dielectric‐barrier discharge (DBD) in an argon–water mixture is applied to plasma pretreatment (PP) of amorphous silica for subsequent vapor‐phase silanization (VS) in the same reactor. Comparison of amino‐silanization of silica fiber‐optic biosensor probes using a PP/VS sequence with strategies involving wet‐chemical pretreatment or silanization shows a considerable improvement in reproducibility by the completely dry process. Practical applicability is demonstrated by an immunoassay with human immunoglobulin G as analyte. Thanks to the advantages of shorter processing time, avoidance of washing steps, and improved reproducibility, PP/VS is highly promising for industrial use.