An Ultraflexible and Stretchable Aptameric Graphene Nanosensor for Biomarker Detection and Monitoring

An ultraflexible and stretchable field-effect transistor nanosensor is presented that uses aptamer-functionalized monolayer graphene as the conducting channel. Specific binding of the aptamer with the target biomarker induces a change in the carrier concentration of the graphene, which is measured to determine the biomarker concentration. Based on a Mylar substrate that is only 2.5-μm thick, the nanosensor is capable of conforming to underlying surfaces (e.g., those of human tissue or skin) that undergo large bending, twisting, and stretching deformations. In experimental testing, the device is rolled on cylindrical surfaces with radii down to 40 μm, twisted by angles ranging from -180° to 180°, or stretched by extensions up to 125%. With these large deformations applied either cyclically or non-recurrently, the device is shown to incur no visible mechanical damage, maintain consistent electrical properties, and allow detection of TNF-, an inflammatory cytokine biomarker, with consistently high selectivity and low limit of detection (down to 5 × 10M). The nanosensor can thus potentially enable consistent and reliable detection of liquid-borne biomarkers on human skin or tissue surfaces that undergo large mechanical deformations.