Electrodeposition of Piezoelectric Polymer Ultrasonic Transceivers for On-Chip Antibiotic Biosensors

Abstract

In this study, on-chip piezoelectric polymer ultrasonic transceivers based on electrodeposition of polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) copolymer were developed and their use for ultrasensitive detection of antibiotic drugs was demonstrated. The transceivers, including receivers and transmitters, were electrodeposited on prepatterned gold electrodes in a single step at room temperature. PVDF-TrFE layers were deposited and poled simultaneously because of the polarization of dipoles in the electric field. A couple of PVDF-TrFE droplets were used to fabricate ultrasonic transducers through a local electrodeposition process, which required only 10 min. The fabricated ultrasonic transducers had a diameter of 680 mu m and were integrated with a microfluidic channel. The measured transduction efficiency of the developed transceivers was 29.03%. These developed biosensors have been successfully applied for the detection of doxycycline, which is frequently used in animals, and a detection limit of 50 ppb was achieved. Furthermore, a simple, economical, and easy-to-use technique was developed for fabricating piezoelectric polymer devices on a small scale. The developed on-chip ultrasonic transceivers, which exhibited high ultrasonic performance in a microfluidic channel, have potential for use in ultrasensitive detection of proteins, DNA, and food antibiotics drugs. (C) 2016 The Electrochemical Society.