Licensable Technologies : Materials : Ceramics

Reversible Modification of Carbon Nanotube Electronic Properties for Sensors and Electronics Applications

Abstract
The invention describes a novel method for a reversible biosensor with carbon nanotubes serving as a novel platform for sensitive detection.  Sensor applications may use either an electronic or optical signal for transduction.  The invention functions through reversible modification of nanotube electronic properties and behavior and, in addition to applications in biosensors, may also be used for tunable nanotube electronics.

Application(s)
Applications include proteomics, protein expression, protein structure and function studies, high throughput screening, R&D for biologics development.

Advantages

• Reversibility
• Non-covalent interactions allows reversibility - Other approaches using covalent interactions disrupt or destroy intrinsic nanotube properties
• Tuneability
• Degree of modification of electronic properties is tuned vie the electron accepting properties of the organiz quencher molecules
• Fluorescence Transduction
• First approach that uses fluorescence transduction to detect analytes.  Only approach with an effective on/off switch transduction
• Simple
• Complex Nanoarchitectures are not required with this approach
• Sensitivity
• Nanomolar level sensitivities with potential for higher sensitivities feasible
• Smart Materials
• Unique - only description of direct coupling of a nanotube sensing event to nanotube logic response in a smart material application
• Versatile
• Can use optical or electronic signal transduction
• Range of Analytes accessible is only limited by the type of receptors that can be attached to the quencher molecules.
• Reduced Background Signal
• Method avoids background native fluorescence in the visible to near-UV from target biological matrices.  This also boosts sensitivity.

IP Status: Available both Exclusively and Non Exclusively

Reference Number: 591

S Number: DOE reference no.(s): 104,842

Patents & Applications:
Application(s) Pending

Posted: 06-27-2008

Contact
David Hadley
Technology Transfer Division
Los Alamos National Laboratory
P.O. Box 1663, MailStop C334
(505) 667-7539
dhadley@lanl.gov