Overcoming Debye length limitations: Three-dimensional wrinkled graphene field-effect transistor for ultra-sensitive adenosine triphosphate detection

• Published in: Frontiers of physics Vol. 18; no. 5; p. 53301
• Main Authors: Ding, Yue, Li, Chonghui, Tian, Meng, Wang, Jihua, Wang, Zhenxing, Lin, Xiaohui, Liu, Guofeng, Cui, Wanling, Qi, Xuefan, Li, Siyu, Yue, Weiwei, Xu, Shicai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Higher Education Press 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adenosine triphosphate; Astronomy; Astrophysics and Cosmology; Atomic; ATP; ATP in complex human serum; Biosensors; Condensed Matter Physics; Debye length; Debye shielding; Diagnosis; field effect transistor; Field effect transistors; Graphene; Molecular; Optical and Plasma Physics; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Pathogenesis; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Research Article; Semiconductor devices; three-dimensional wrinkled graphene; Transistors; ultra-sensitive; three-dimensional wrinkled graphene; ultra-sensitive; field effect transistor; ATP in complex human serum; Debye shielding
• DOI: 10.1007/s11467-023-1281-7
• ISSN: 2095-0462

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is closely related to the pathogenesis of certain diseases, so the detection of trace ATP is of great significance to disease diagnosis and drug development. Graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) have been proven to be a promising platform for the rapid and accurate detection of small molecules, while the Debye shielding limits the sensitive detection in real samples. Here, a three-dimensional wrinkled graphene field-effect transistor (3D WG-FET) biosensor for ultra-sensitive detection of ATP is demonstrated. The lowest detection limit of 3D WG-FET for analyzing ATP is down to 3.01 aM, which is much lower than the reported results. In addition, the 3D WG-FET biosensor shows a good linear electrical response to ATP concentrations in a broad range of detection from 10 aM to 10 pM. Meanwhile, we achieved ultra-sensitive (LOD: 10 aM) and quantitative (range from 10 aM to 100 fM) measurements of ATP in human serum. The 3D WG-FET also exhibits high specificity. This work may provide a novel approach to improve the sensitivity for the detection of ATP in complex biological matrix, showing a broad application value for early clinical diagnosis and food health monitoring.