Artificial Nanopores Take Analyte Pulse
Reliable nanopores by two-step etching
The nanopores are prepared by a track-etching method. In this approach, a high-energy particle is passed through a synthetic polymer membrane to create a damage track, which is then chemically etched to convert the track to a pore. A major challenge has been ensuring control and reproducibility of the diameter of the resulting pore. Charles R. Martin and his colleagues have developed a two-step etching method to reproducibly fabricate conical pores in polymer membranes with predictive control of the diameters of the pore openings. The conical pores have two openings on opposite faces: a large-diameter base and a small-diameter tip. Much of the sensing action occurs at the tip, since the bioanalytes block the tip while moving across the membrane. It is thus imperative to control the size of this tip opening.
The researchers use the first etch step to define the base and the tip of the conical pores in the membrane. Subsequently, they use a second etching step, while continuously monitoring the ion current, and stop the etching process when the ion current across the membrane reaches a certain value, corresponding to a well-defined tip diameter. This method allows the predictive and reliable fabrication of conical pores with tip openings varying from 10 to 60 nm, which is in the right regime for detecting biological analytes. Martin and his colleagues have illustrated the dramatic potential of these membranes by detecting a protein analyte, bovine serum albumin, using nanopore sensors with two different tip diameters. The protein more effectively blocks the pores of a nanopore sensor with a tip diameter of 17 nm as compared to a sensor with 27-nm tips, and this is reflected in the current pulse data. "This method may allow us to take artificial nanopore sensors from the bench top to the practical prototype-device development stage", said Martin, emphasizing that the reproducible preparation of artificial nanopores is critical for the development of resistive-pulse sensors.
Original publication: Author: Charles R. Martin et al.; "A Method for Reproducibly Preparing Synthetic"; Small 2007.
Other news from the department science
Get the life science industry in your inbox
From now on, don't miss a thing: Our newsletter for biotechnology, pharma and life sciences brings you up to date every Tuesday and Thursday. The latest industry news, product highlights and innovations - compact and easy to understand in your inbox. Researched by us so you don't have to.