SGER: Evaluation of Porous Silicon Pore Size for Effective Infiltration of Biomolecules

Sharon Weiss：SGER这项SGER建议的目标是建立多孔硅孔径和生物分子大小之间的定量关系，以使用无标记多孔硅传感平台实现对目标生物材料的可靠渗透、结合和检测。智力价值：拟议研究的智力价值在于理解被测试的生物分子与多孔主体传感材料的孔径之间的大小关系。多孔硅传感的高风险挑战是有效地确定20 nm的孔径是否足够大，以检测具有医学意义的生物分子。在这个项目中，PI将进行三个具体的实验，以确定平均直径为20 nm的毛孔中用于检测的最大生物分子尺寸。(1)将不同长度(即不同碱基对数)的DNA寡聚分子暴露在单层多孔硅中。(2)平面硅片上的椭偏测量将被用来确定用于多孔硅功能化的分子的大小。(3)互补和非互补的DNA链将暴露在多孔硅中。更广泛的影响。国际和平协会计划开展针对代表性不足的少数群体的外联活动，例如通过向Tennessee Women in Science，Technology，Engineering，and Research(田纳西州科学、技术、工程和研究领域的妇女)高中女孩进行演讲。PI还将招募本科生研究人员，包括附近菲斯克大学(HBCU)的研究人员，参与拟议的研究。

Sharon Weiss: SGERThe objective of this SGER proposal is to establish a quantitative relationship between porous silicon pore size and biomolecule size to enable reliable infiltration, binding and detection of target biological material using a label-free porous silicon sensing platform. Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit of the proposed research resides in the understanding of the size relationship between biomolecules under test and the pore diameter of a porous host sensing material. The high risk challenge for porous silicon sensing is to effectively determine if the 20 nm pore size is sufficiently large to detect medically significant biomolecules. In this project the PI will carry out three specific experiments to determine the maximum biomolecule size for detection in pores with a 20 nm average diameter. (1) DNA oligos of different length (i.e., different number of base pair) will be exposed to a single layer of porous silicon. (2) Ellipsometry measurements on planar silicon wafers will be used to determine the size of the molecules used to functionalize the porous silicon.. (3) Complementary and non-complementary DNA strands will be exposed to the porous silicon. Broader impacts. The PI plans to develop outreach activities that will target underrepresented minorities through, for example, presentations to TWISTER (Tennessee Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Research) high school girls. The PI will also recruit undergraduate researchers, including those at nearby Fisk University (HBCU), to be involved in the proposed research.