title: Highly efficient biocompatible single silicon nanowire electrodes with functional biological pore channels.
abstract: Nanoscale electrodes based on one-dimensional inorganic conductors could possess significant advantages for electrochemical measurements over their macroscopic counterparts in a variety of electrochemical applications. We show that the efficiency of the electrodes constructed of individual highly doped silicon nanowires greatly exceeds the efficiency of flat Si electrodes. Modification of the surfaces of the nanowire electrodes with phospholipid bilayers produces an efficient biocompatible barrier to transport of the solution redox species to the nanoelectrode surface. Incorporating functional alpha-hemolysin protein pores in the lipid bilayer results in a partial recovery of the Faradic current due to the specific transport through the protein pore. These assemblies represent a robust and versatile platform for building a new generation of highly specific biosensors and nano/bioelectronic devices.
authors.affiliation: Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA.
authors.forename: Julio A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Nipun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.forename: Yinmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stroeve
authors.forename: Costas P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Grigoropoulos
authors.forename: Aleksandr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods; D004566:Electrodes; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D018030:Silver Compounds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010743:Phospholipids; D018030:Silver Compounds; C037548:silver chloride; D012825:Silicon