BIOLIFT · Fabrication of capacitive biosensors using the Laser Induced Forward Transfer process

Periodic Report Summary 1 - BioLIFT (Fabrication of capacitive biosensors using the Laser Induced Forward Transfer process)

This project aims at the fabrication of capacitive biosensors using laser deposition methods. Specifically, capacitive transducers will be used for the recognition of biological reactions, which will take place at the top plate of the transducers. Changes in the sensor capacitance due to biological reactions will be recorded. The geometry and chemistry of the top plate of the capacitive sensor are very important for enhanced sensitivity. The sensor dimensions are on the order of 150-250 µm, therefore increased spatial resolution is needed for the deposition of biological materials on the sensor surface. For this purpose, the biological materials that will act as probes for specific analytes will be deposited on the sensors by a laser deposition technique, named Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT), which provides spatial resolution of 10s of µm. The project objectives for the first two years are the following: Year 1: Optimization of the Laser Induced Forward Transfer process for the deposition of biomaterials in liquid phase. Year 2: Optimization of the capacitive sensors geometry and chemistry. The project is running as originally planned. During the first year we achieved the goals of Workpackage 1, which was aiming at the optimization of the LIFT process for the deposition of DNA spots. Specifically, we implemented and optimized the LIFT process by choosing the appropriate laser system, optimized the laser pulse intensity, selected the appropriate carrier for the material to be deposited, and optimized the distance between the material carrier and the receiving substrate. We successfully deposited DNA spots on various substrates using the LIFT technique. The main results achieved so far are: - Optimization of the Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) setup for printing biological materials in the liquid phase. - Optimization of geometry and chemistry of capacitive sensors. - Successful LIFT deposition of biological materials on the surface of capacitive sensors achieving partial coverage of the surface for maximum sensitivity. - Synthesis and LIFT deposition of polyaniline films on substrates bearing Al electrodes for the fabrication of polyaniline microsensors. - LIFT deposition of P3HT/PCBM for organic solar cell applications. - Laser microstructuring of Si surfaces. The final result of this project will be the fabrication of arrays of capacitive biosensors. Biosensors and chemical sensors hold great promise for vital aspects of the human life, such as environmental monitoring, industrial and food processing, healthcare, biomedical technology, and clinical analysis. This project will provide a major contribution to the field of biosensors, by building a highly sensitive biosensor, which will be able to perform label-free and fast biodetection based on very small DNA samples in an economic and user-friendly fashion. The project will combine the latest and most successful techniques in the various steps of the sensor fabrication, in order to provide optimal efficiency and robustness. Eventually this sensor can be used with thousands of analytes, such as proteins, different DNA strands, and pathogens. 5LContact Information Associate Professor Ioanna Zergioti Department of Physics, National Technical University of Athens 9 Iroon Polytechneiou st. 15780 Zografou5LGreece5LEmail: zergioti@central.ntua.gr Tel: +30-210-7723345 Project website: http://www.physics.ntua/biolift/

Data: CORDIS, © European Union