Suspended nanoparticle crystal (S-NPC): A nanofluidics-based, electrical read-out biosensor

Abstract

Here we report an approach utilizing a suspended nanoparticle crystal (S-NPC) as an electrical read-out biosensor based on a nanofluidic electrokinetics principle. As a preliminary demonstration, streptavidin-modified S-NPC with a particle diameter of 520 nm was used to detect biotin in a PBS buffer. The present result indicated that the detection range of biotin by this nanofluidics-based biosensor was about 1 nM–10 μM (in 10⁻⁴ × PBS) with a sensitivity of 160 nS/nM. Being easy to get established, low-cost, and having large electrical read-out signal, the present S-NPC is believed to be a promising biosensing scheme in the micro total analysis system.