Nanostructured Surfaces with Selective Biotraps for Sensing

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PI: Tsukruk, Vladimir V.Proposal: 1401720Title: Nanostructured Surfaces with Selective Biotraps for SensingThe demand for robust, reliable, selective, and sensitive detection of important stress or disease biomarkers has become high to meet the needs of the fast growing fields of biosensing for health, performance, and bioenvironmental monitoring as well as real-time monitoring of cognitive function, state of fatigue, and environmental exposure. Highly sensitive and selective nanomaterials for novel biosensing routines will be advanced in this project through precise fabrication of nanomaterials composed of noble metal nanostructures decorated with grafted selective biomolecules. A broader impact of this project is anticipated through the enhanced training of students with an emphasis on their early involvement in an interdisciplinary, fundamental & applied research experience. In addition, the PI places continued emphasis on recruiting under-represented students by enhancing collaboration with HBCU Morehouse College in Atlanta.Highly sensitive and selective hybrid nanomaterials for biosensing will be advanced in this project through an understanding of the selective binding characteristics of functionalized ?biotraps? composed of noble metal nanostructures decorated with grafted biomolecules. These biosensing nanomaterials will target stress-, performance-, and disease-related biomarkers based upon utilization of SERS phenomena. The candidates for biofunctionalization of metal nanostructures are aptamers and selectively-binding peptides, each capable of controlled grafting to the nanostructures and remarkable specificity to target molecules. Anisotropic individual plasmonic structures (such as gold and silver nanocubes) will be the materials base because their pattern of plasmonic resonances covers a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Specific technical tasks to be addressed include: 1) fabrication of noble metal nanostructures with highly controlled shapes in array-form using electron beam lithography and directed self-assembly; 2) determine how specific structural peculiarities affect their individual plasmonic responses; 3) robust biofunctionalization of nanostructured gaps; 4) investigate SERS phenomena of these biofunctionalized traps designed to selectively bind different biomolecules. The highly interdisciplinary nature of the proposed research requires intense collaboration with biochemist experts from the Air Force Research Lab and chemists from academic institutions.