U.S.-Germany Cooperative Research on the Use of Self- Assembled Monolayers to Tailor the Properties of Acoustic Plate Mode Biosensors

该奖项支持哈佛大学乔治·怀特赛兹教授的学生到德国海德堡进行研究访问，这是怀特赛兹教授和海德堡大学物理化学系迈克尔·格伦兹教授合作研究项目的一部分。他们的研究目标是开发生物传感器和生物传感器阵列。Grunze团队开发了一种声板模式(APM)传感器，作为一种测量固定抗原抗体识别的技术。哈佛大学研究小组开发了几种有机薄膜的模型系统，包括将蛋白质吸附到自组装单分子层(SAM)。SAM是定义良好的模型曲面，为裁剪具有各种精细和复杂功能的曲面提供了前所未有的控制。这些系统将用于测试和优化APM传感器。合作者还将探索制造组成APM设备的交指电极阵列的新工艺。基于参与的美国和德国研究小组的互补专业知识，这项创新研究将导致新的生物传感器，这些传感器坚固、有鉴别力、廉价和快速。它们在医疗诊断、微细光刻等领域具有广泛的实际应用前景。从根本上讲，这项研究将提高我们对有机单分子膜分子有序性和粘弹性之间关系的理解。

This award supports research visits by students of Professor George Whitesides of Harvard University to Heidelberg, Germany, as part of a collaborative research project between Professor Whitesides and Professor Michael Grunze of the Department of Physical Chemistry of the University of Heidelberg. The objective of their research is to develop biosensors and biosensor arrays. The Grunze group has developed an acoustic plate mode (APM) sensor as a technique to measure antibody recognition of immobilized antigen. The Harvard group has developed several model systems of thin organic films involving adsorption of protein to self-assembled monolayers (SAM's) . SAM's are well defined model surfaces and offer unprecedented control for tailoring surfaces with a variety of delicate and complex functions. These systems will be used to test and optimize the APM sensor. The collaborators will also explore novel processes for fabricating the interdigitated electrode arrays that comprise the APM device. Building on the complementary expertise of the participating US and German research groups, this innovative research will lead to new biosensors that are robust, discriminating, inexpensive and fast. They could have a variety of practical applications in medical diagnostics, microlithography and other fields. On the fundamental level, the research should improve our understanding of the relation between molecular order and viscoelastic properties of organic monolayers.