Electrical Properties and Sensor Applications of Glass Nanopore Electrodes

犹他大学的Henry S. White教授得到了化学系分析和表面化学项目的支持，开发了制造化学修饰的玻璃纳米孔电极的方法，并研究了它们的电学和电化学性能。电极的制作方法是将铂或金线密封在高电阻玻璃毛细管中，抛光玻璃，使用反馈电路将已知半径的纳米盘电极暴露出来，然后蚀刻金属盘，形成一个锥形孔，通过纳米级孔暴露在分析物溶液中。该项目的目标是：(1)优化具有可重复5nm半径孔的电极的制造；(2)开发交流电导率方法，以测量孔孔处响应分析物结合的电阻；(3)设计响应纳米孔的分子识别位点和材料；(4)评估电极在特定相关应用中的刺激反应行为。长期目标是开发一种独立的装置，有可能取代离子选择电极，这种电极在化学和生物医学分析中无处不在。该设备结合了分离和传感元件，用于分析化学品和生化物质，其灵敏度可能接近单分子水平。该项目将为学生在纳米技术、表面化学、生物化学、电测量、聚合物化学和计算化学方面提供优秀的研究和专业培训机会。

Professor Henry S. White of the University of Utah is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry to develop methods for fabricating chemically modified glass nanopore electrodes and to investigate their electrical and electrochemical properties. The electrodes will be fabricated by sealing platinum or gold wires in high-resistance glass capillaries, polishing the glass to expose a nanodisk electrode of known radius using electrical feedback circuitry, and etching the metal disk to create a conical shaped pore that is exposed to the analyte solution through a nanometer scale orifice. The objectives of this project are: (1) to optimize the fabrication of electrodes with reproducible 5 nm-radius orifices; (2) to develop alternate-current conductivity methodology to measure the resistance at the pore orifice in response to analyte binding; (3) to design molecular recognition sites and materials for the responsive nanopores; and (4) to evaluate the stimulus-response behavior of the electrodes in specific relevant applications.The long term objective is to develop a self-contained device that could potentially replace the ion-selective electrode, which is employed ubiquitously in chemical and biomedical analysis. The device combines separation and sensing elements for the analysis of chemicals and biochemicals, with sensitivities that could potentially approach the single-molecule level. The project will provide excellent research and professional training opportunities for students in nanotechnology, surface chemistry, biochemistry, electrical measurements, polymer chemistry and computational chemistry.