Electric detection of DNA with PDMS microgap electrodes and silver nanoparticles

Abstract

In this work a novel microdevice sensor has been developed by plating gold on the PDMS surface to generate a sandwich-type gap electrode for DNA detection. The microdevice utilizes a gold band electrode–PDMS–gold band electrode configuration and the minimum detectable volume could be as low as 5 μL. The 20 μm PDMS-based gap was chemically modified with DNA capture probes and DNA sandwich hybrids were formed with the addition of DNA target and silver nanoparticle probes. To increase detection sensitivity, parallel detection zones have been developed in which the relevant resistances decrease substantially upon hybridyzation. By measuring the change in electrical conductivity, the DNA target in the concentration range of 1000–0.1 nM can be assayed and the limit of lowest detectable concentration was achieved at 0.01 nM.