Graphene FET array biosensor based on ssDNA aptamer for ultrasensitive Hg2+ detection in environmental pollutants

Abstract

Invisible mercury ion is an extremely poisonous environmental pollutant, therefore, a fast and highly sensitive detection method is of significant importance. In this study, a liquid-gated graphene field-effect transistor (GFET) array biosensor (6 × 6 GFETs on the chip) was fabricated and applied for Hg2+ quantitate detection based on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) aptamer. The biosensor showed outstanding selectivity to Hg2+ in mixed solutions containing various metal ions. Moreover, the sensing capability of the biosensor was demonstrated by real-time responses and showed a fairly low detection limit of 40 pM, a wide detection ranged from 100 pM to 100 nM and rapid response time below one second. These results suggest that the GFET array biosensor based on ssDNA aptamer offers a simple fabrication procedure and quite fast method for mercury ion contaminant detection and are promising for various analytical applications.