Tactile Chemomechanical Transduction Based on an Elastic Microstructured Array to Enhance the Sensitivity of Portable Biosensors. Issue 1 (17th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Ting; Qi, Dianpeng; Yang, Hui; Liu, Zhiyuan; Wang, Ming; Leow, Wan Ru; Chen, Geng; Yu, Jiancan; He, Ke; Cheng, Hongwei; Wu, Yun‐Long; Zhang, Han; Chen, Xiaodong
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials. Volume 31:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-10-17
• Subjects: chemomechanical transduction -- healthcare -- microstructured arrays -- signal amplification -- tactile sensors; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201803883
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0935-9648

Abstract

Abstract: Tactile sensors capable of perceiving biophysical signals such as force, pressure, or strain have attracted extensive interest for versatile applications in electronic skin, noninvasive healthcare, and biomimetic prostheses. Despite these great achievements, they are still incapable of detecting bio/chemical signals that provide even more meaningful and precise health information due to the lack of efficient transduction principles. Herein, a tactile chemomechanical transduction strategy that enables the tactile sensor to perceive bio/chemical signals is proposed. In this methodology, pyramidal tactile sensors are linked with biomarker‐induced gas‐producing reactions, which transduce biomarker signals to electrical signals in real time. The method is advantageous as it enhances electrical signals by more than tenfold based on a triple‐step signal amplification strategy, as compared to traditional electrical biosensors. It also constitutes a portable and general platform capable of quantifying a wide spectrum of targets including carcinoembryonic antigen, interferon‐γ, and adenosine. Such tactile chemomechanical transduction would greatly broaden the application of tactile sensors toward bio/chemical signals perception which can be used in ultrasensitive portable biosensors and chemical‐responsive chemomechanical systems. Abstract : Tactile chemomechanical transduction is proposed, which allows tactile sensors to perceive bio/chemical signals. Based on an elastic pyramidal array, tactile sensors transduce chemical signals from biomarker‐induced gas‐producing reactions to electrical signals. This concept broadens the application domain of tactile sensors and also provides a general and ultrasensitive transduction principle for portable biosensors.