Nanostructured Surfaces with Selective Biotraps for Sensing

为了满足快速发展的健康、性能、生物环境监测以及认知功能、疲劳状态和环境暴露的实时监测等生物传感领域的需求，对具有选择性生物陷阱的传感纳米结构表面的需求越来越高。本项目将通过对贵金属纳米结构进行接枝修饰的纳米材料的精确制造，为新型生物传感程序提供高灵敏度和选择性的纳米材料。通过加强对学生的培训，强调他们早期参与跨学科的基础和应用研究经验，预计该项目将产生更广泛的影响。此外，PI通过加强与亚特兰大HBCU莫尔豪斯学院的合作，继续强调招收代表性不足的学生。通过对功能化“生物陷阱”的选择性结合特性的理解，本项目将推进用于生物传感的高灵敏度和选择性杂交纳米材料。由接枝生物分子修饰的贵金属纳米结构组成。基于SERS现象的利用，这些生物传感纳米材料将针对应力、性能和疾病相关的生物标志物。金属纳米结构生物功能化的候选者是适体和选择性结合肽，它们都能够控制接枝到纳米结构上，并且对目标分子具有显著的特异性。各向异性的单个等离子体结构（如金和银纳米立方体）将成为材料基础，因为它们的等离子体共振模式覆盖了广泛的电磁波谱。需要解决的具体技术任务包括：1)利用电子束光刻技术和定向自组装技术制造具有高度控制形状的阵列贵金属纳米结构；2)确定特定的结构特性如何影响它们各自的等离子体响应；3)纳米结构间隙的强大生物功能化；4)研究这些生物功能化陷阱选择性结合不同生物分子的SERS现象。拟议研究的高度跨学科性质需要与空军研究实验室的生物化学专家和学术机构的化学家密切合作。

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.