Issue 6, 2014

Investigation of non-specific signals in nanoporous flow-through and flow-over based sensors

Abstract

Porous materials are ideal hosts to fabricate high sensitivity devices. Their large specific area and the possibility to modify the type and the strength of the matrix–analyte interactions allow the realization of sensors with finely tailored characteristics. In this article, we investigate how mass transport across the nanoporous structure influences the response due to the non-specific signal by comparing flow-through versus flow-over geometries. We observed a systematic overestimation of the sensitivity for porous substrate devices made of closed-ended pores compared with open-ended pore ones. Our analysis shows that such an effect is due to (unbound) analytes or contaminants that remain trapped within the pores and are not removed by rinsing of the sample. This result was verified by measuring similar samples in both flow through and flow over configurations, as well as their residual response after blockage of all their active sites. We also notice that sensors based on free-standing membranes show similar results independent of the fact that mass transport is induced by either an external pressure source or simply by Brownian motions.

Graphical abstract: Investigation of non-specific signals in nanoporous flow-through and flow-over based sensors

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Oct 2013
Accepted
09 Dec 2013
First published
10 Dec 2013

Analyst, 2014,139, 1345-1349

Investigation of non-specific signals in nanoporous flow-through and flow-over based sensors

N. Kumar, E. Froner, R. Guider, M. Scarpa and P. Bettotti, Analyst, 2014, 139, 1345 DOI: 10.1039/C3AN01996A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements