The present protocol demonstrates the development of electrolyte-gated graphene field-effect transistor (EGGFET) biosensor and its application in biomarker immunoglobulin G (IgG) detection.
In the current study, graphene and its derivatives have been investigated and used for many applications, including electronics, sensing, energy storage, and photocatalysis. Synthesis and fabrication of high quality, good uniformity, and low defects graphene are critical for high-performance and highly sensitive devices. Among many synthesis methods, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), considered a leading approach to manufacture graphene, can control the number of graphene layers and yield high-quality graphene. CVD graphene needs to be transferred from the metal substrates on which it is grown onto insulating substrates for practical applications. However, separation and transferring of graphene onto new substrates are challenging for a uniform layer without damaging or affecting graphene's structures and properties. Additionally, electrolyte-gated graphene field-effect transistor (EGGFET) has been demonstrated for its wide applications in various biomolecular detections because of its high sensitivity and standard device configuration. In this article, poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-assisted graphene transferring approach, fabrication of graphene field-effect transistor (GFET), and biomarker immunoglobulin G (IgG) detection are demonstrated. Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy were applied to characterize the transferred graphene. The method is shown to be a practical approach for transferring clean and residue-free graphene while preserving the underlying graphene lattice onto an insulating substrate for electronics or biosensing applications.
Graphene and its derivatives have been investigated and used for many applications, including electronics1,2, sensing3,4,5, energy storage6,7, and photocatalysis1,6,8. Synthesis and fabrication of high quality, good uniformity, and low defects graphene are critical for high-performance and highly sensitive devices. Since the development of Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in 2009, it has shown colossal promise and set its place as an essential member of the graphene family9,10,11,12,13. It is grown on a metal substrate and, later for practical uses, is transferred onto insulating substrates14. Several transferring methods have been used to transfer CVD graphene recently. The poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) assisted method is the most used among the different techniques. This method is particularly well-suited for industrial usage because of its large-scale capability, lower cost, and high quality of the transferred graphene14,15. The critical aspect of this method is getting rid of the PMMA residue for CVD graphene's applications because the residues can cause declination of the electronic properties of graphene14,15,16, cause an effect on biosensors' sensitivity and performance17,18, and create significant device-to-device variations19.
Nanomaterials-based biosensors have been significantly investigated over the past decades, including silicon nanowire (SiNW), carbon nanotube (CNT), and graphene20. Because of its single-atom-layer structure and distinctive properties, graphene demonstrates superior electronic characteristics, good biocompatibility, and facile functionalization, making it an attractive material for developing biosensors14,21,22,23. Due to field-effect transistors (FET) characteristics such as high sensitivity, standard configuration, and cost-effective mass producibility21,24, FET is more preferred in portable and point-of-care implementations than other electronics-based biosensing devices. The electrolyte-gated graphene field-effect transistor (EGGFET) biosensors are examples of the stated FETs21,24. EGGFET can detect various targeting analytes such as nucleic acids25, proteins24,26, metabolites27, and other biologically relevant analytes28. The technique mentioned here ensures the implementation of CVD graphene in a label-free biosensing nanoelectronics device which offers higher sensitivity and accurate time detection over other biosensing devices29.
In this work, an overall process for developing an EGGFET biosensor and functionalizing it for biomarker detection, including transferring CVD graphene onto an insulating substrate, Raman, and AFM characterizations of the transferred graphene, are demonstrated. Furthermore, fabrication of EGGFET and integration with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sample delivery well, bioreceptor functionalization, and successful detection of human immunoglobulin G (IgG) from serum by spike-and-recovery experiments are also discussed here.
1. Transferring chemical vapor deposition of graphene
2. Fabrication of Graphene Field Effect Transistor (GFET)
3. Functionalization of GFET for IgG Detection
4. IgG detection
The representative results show the transferred CVD graphene characterized by Raman and AFM, respectively. The G peak and the 2D peaks of the Raman image give comprehensive information regarding the existence and the quality of the transferred monolayer graphene32 (Figure 1). Standard lithography processes30,31 were applied for fabricating the GFET device, as shown in Figure 2. Figure 3 shows the fabricated GFET with assembled PDMS sample delivery wells and the experimental setup. The PDMS was mixed at a weight ratio of 10:1 and cast into a Petri dish. Then the whole dish with PDMS mixture was baked in an oven at 60 °C for 3 h. The cured PDMS was peeled off the dish and trimmed to a cube (1 cm x 1 cm × 1 cm). The well (6 mm diameter) was then created by punching the PDMS cube with a puncher.
Schematic functionalization processes for IgG detection by EGGFET are shown in Figure 4, and Figure 5 shows the IgG detection under different electrolyte conditions24. PBASE, a widely used functionalization reagent for graphene, can be adsorbed on graphene surface through a π-π interaction24 without damaging graphene's electrical properties (Figure 4A). A 5′amino-modified IgG aptamer is conjugated with PBASE by the amide bond linkages between the reactive N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) ester in PBASE and the amine group on the 5′ end of the IgG aptamer (Figure 4B). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) incubation, a standard approach for biosensor detection, was used to block the remaining unconjugated sites after rinsing the device with 1x PBS (Figure 4C). A more detailed discussion can be found in our previously published work24. The Ag/AgCl reference electrode was applied to define the gate potential during the detection. The detection range, the concentration range that a sensor can reliably measure, is determined to be around ~2-50 nM for the EGGFET device. More detailed discussions for chemical and measurement principles involved in IgG detection and EGGFET's sensitivity and detection limit were reported previously24.
Figure 1: CVD graphene is characterized by Raman and AFM spectroscopy. (A) Representative Raman spectrum of the transferred graphene. The G peak and the 2D peaks are the predominant peaks of pristine graphene. (B) Representative AFM image of the graphene. The corresponding height profiles in the AFM image are shown in the bottom panel along the blue dashed line. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: Schematic fabrication of graphene field-effect transistor. (A) Monolayer graphene transferred onto silicon dioxide substrates. (B) Nickel and Gold deposited on transferred graphene. (C) Gold etched after the first photolithography process. (D) Nickel etched after the second photolithography process. (E) Removing unprotected graphene using oxygen plasma. (F) Coating the pattern with photoresist for passivation layering and performing the third photolithography process. (G) Nickel etched after the third photolithography process. (H) Annealing after etching nickel. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: Device and experimental setup for IgG detection. (A) The EGGFET biosensor integrated with a standard Ag/AgCl reference electrode and a PDMS well for containing the sample. (B) The enlarged view of the graphene channel. (C) The schematic diagram of the circuit connection for detecting IgG using the EGGFET biosensor. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 4: Functionalization of the graphene surface for IgG detection. Reprinted with permission from Reference24. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 5: The response of the EGGFET biosensor to biomarker IgG under different diluents. Reprinted with permission from Reference24. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Supplementary Figure 1: Mask designs used for photolithography processes. (A) The mask design used in the first photolithography process. The electrodes are given with dimensions in the enlarged image A1. (B) Mask design used in the second photolithography with dimensions. (C) Mask design used in the third photolithography process. The electrodes are given with dimensions in the enlarged image C1. (D) The final product of all three photolithography processes and the enlarged image D1 shows the electrode configurations. The units for the dimensions are in millimeters (mm). Please click here to download this File.
The purchased CVD graphene on copper film needs to be trimmed to the right size for the following fabrication steps. Cutting of the films can cause wrinkling, which needs to be prevented. The parameters provided in the fabrication step can be referred to for plasma etching of graphene, and these numbers could be varied when using different instruments. The etched sample must be closely monitored and inspected to ensure complete graphene etching. Multiple pre-cleaning methods can be applied to clean the substrates, such as sonication in acetone, IPA, and DI water for 5 min, DI water rinsing, and nitrogen gas drying or treatment with O2 plasma (300 W, at ~100 sccm for 5 min). The copper etching rate is about 1.25-1.67 micron/min while using the commercial ferric chloride copper etchant. Close observation is necessary for the etching process. Following the etching, a sufficient rinsing with DI water is needed.
The acetone cleaning technique mentioned in the protocol is the optimum residue cleaning technique. Plasma cleaning has the risk of harming the monolayer graphene. So, the most graphene layer-friendly technique is acetone cleaning. But removing PMMA residue is also of primary importance as it affects the latter processes. Doing Raman spectroscopy and AFM can give the real-time quality of graphene and the PMMA residue. The instruments and the chemicals used in the protocol are critical as these directly influence the quality of the fabricated device. So, the quality of the instruments and the validity of the chemicals need to be checked and updated.
PBASE needs to be kept dry and stored in -20 °C freezer to avoid hydrolysis for bioreceptor functionalization. The stored vial needs to reach room temperature before opening it; otherwise, water could condense inside the vial and hydrolyze the PBASE. To make 10 mM of PBASE, 100 mM of PBASE solution needs to be prepared first by dissolving 38.5 mg of PBASE in 1 mL of DMSO and then diluting it by a factor of 10.
Because the reagents and buffers were added or removed by pipetting directly into the PDMS well, the device demonstrated in the manuscript would not allow for an in-site calibration with negative control. A multichannel array integrated with a properly designed microfluidic device would be necessary for this purpose. Further development of the device, such as combining it with a lateral flow platform, would provide great potential for point-of-care applications33. In addition, the interface between solid and liquid is a topic of great scientific and technological importance34. For example, in the particular case of aqueous media and graphene, it plays a crucial role in many emerging applications of graphene, e.g., analytical chemistry35, energy storage and conversion36, water filtration37, and biosensing38. Unraveling the behavior at the interface has essential scientific and technical significance, especially for an accurate and more in-depth understanding of graphene’s properties and practical applications39,40.
In the present work, an in-detail protocol is provided to demonstrate the development of the EGGFET biosensor and its application in biomarker detection. For practical uses of CVD graphene transferred by the PMMA approach, it is critical to remove PMMA residues completely to get a clean surface. The method effectively removes PMMA residues while preserving the underlying graphene lattice. The functional device shows consistent results for detecting human IgG. Interested researchers could use this protocol as a reference to build devices for specific applications, such as studying interface interactions, biosensing, developing similar devices using other nanomaterials, etc.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
The experiments were conducted at West Virginia University. We acknowledge the Shared Research Facilities at West Virginia University for device fabrication and material characterization. This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF1916894.
1-pyreneutyric acid N- hydroxysuccinimide ester | Sigma Aldrich | 457078-1G | functionalization |
Asylum MFP-3D Atomic Force Microscope | Oxford Instruments | graphene characterization | |
AZ 300 MIF | MicroChemicals | AZ 300 MIF | photoresist developer |
AZ 300 MIF | MicroChemicals | AZ 300 MIF | photoresist |
Bovine Serum Albumin | Sigma Aldrich | 810014 | blocking |
Branson 1210 Sonicator | SONITEK | sample cleaning | |
Copper Etchant | Sigma Aldrich | 667528-500ML | removing copper film to release graphene |
Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) | VWR | 97063-136 | functionalization |
Disposable Biopsy Punches, Integra Miltex | VWR | 21909-144 | create well in PDMS |
Gold etchant | Gold Etch, TFA, Transene | 658148 | enchant |
Graphene | Graphene supermarket | 2" x 2" sheet | biosensing element of the device |
IgG aptamer | Base Pair Biotechnologies | customized | bioreceptor |
Keithley 4200A-SCS Parameter Analyzer | Tektronix | measurement and detection | |
KMG CR-6 | KMG chemicals | 64216 | Chromium etchant |
Kurt J. Lesker E-beam Evaporator | Kurt J. Lesker | metal deposition | |
Laurell Technologies 400 Spinners | Laurell Technologies | WS-400BZ-6NPP/LITE | thin film coating |
March PX-250 Plasma Asher | March Instruments | sample cleaning | |
Nickel etchant | Nickel Etchant, TFB, Transene | 600016000 | etchant |
OAI Flood Exposure | OAI | photolithography | |
Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) | Sigma Aldrich | 806552-500ML | buffer |
PMMA 495K A4 | MicroChemicals | PMMA 495K A4 | Photoresist for assisting graphene transferring |
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) | Sigma Aldrich | Sylgard 184 | sample delivery well |
Renishaw InVia Raman Microscope | Renishaw | graphene characterization | |
Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) | Sigma Aldrich | 221465-25G | functionalization |
Suss Microtech MA6 Mask Aligner | Suss MicroTec | photolithography | |
Thermo Scientific Cimarec Hotplate | Thermo Scientific | SP131635 | sample and device Baking |