Abstract
Electrolyte gated organic transistors can operate as powerful ultrasensitive biosensors, and efforts are currently devoted to devising strategies for reducing the contribution of hardly avoidable, nonspecific interactions to their response, to ultimately harness selectivity in the detection process. We report a novel lab-on-a-chip device integrating a multigate electrolyte gated organic field-effect transistor (EGOFET) with a 6.5 μL microfluidics set up capable to provide an assessment of both the response reproducibility, by enabling measurement in triplicate, and of the device selectivity through the presence of an internal reference electrode. As proof-of-concept, we demonstrate the efficient operation of our pentacene based EGOFET sensing platform through the quantification of tumor necrosis factor alpha with a detection limit as low as 3 pM. Sensing of inflammatory cytokines, which also include TNFα, is of the outmost importance for monitoring a large number of diseases. The multiplexable organic electronic lab-on-chip provides a statistically solid, reliable, and selective response on microliters sample volumes on the minutes time scale, thus matching the relevant key-performance indicators required in point-of-care diagnostics.
Highlights
Electrolyte gated organic transistors can operate as powerful ultrasensitive biosensors, and efforts are currently devoted to devising strategies for reducing the contribution of hardly avoidable, nonspecific interactions to their response, to harness selectivity in the detection process
In a proof-ofconcept experiment, we demonstrate the efficiency of our labon-chip device in quantifying the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis alpha (TNFα)
We propose a new differential signal which highlights the contribution of specific recognition to the response: three gate electrodes enable simultaneous detection of TNFα with a limits of detection (LOD) of 3 pM on a single sample; the fourth electrode serves as an internal reference, to assess whether the detected response has to be ascribed to the sensing event itself instead of other adventitious phenomena that could generate false positive or negative responses
Summary
Electrolyte gated organic transistors can operate as powerful ultrasensitive biosensors, and efforts are currently devoted to devising strategies for reducing the contribution of hardly avoidable, nonspecific interactions to their response, to harness selectivity in the detection process. Four gold gate electrodes on a single glass-reinforced epoxy planar substrate were assembled on top of the microfluidic chamber, to ensure simultaneous contact of all gates to the electrolyte solution (Figure 1b).
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