Ultrasensitive detecting of dopamine in complex components by field effect transistor sensor based on the synergistic enhancement effect and overcoming debye length limitations

[Display omitted] •An ultrasensitive AuNPs/3D crumpled graphene FET was proposed for of DA.•Crumpled graphene effectively increased the λD and reduced the charge screening of biomolecules, allowing more target biomolecules to be detected.•AuNPs/3D crumpled graphene composite could promote electron transfer, which is beneficial for improving detection sensitivity of the FET sensors.•The AuNPs/3D crumpled graphene FET exhibits high sensitivity with LOD of 60, 240 and 316 zM in PBS, human urine and fetal calf serum, respectively.•The sensor was also successfully applied in DA secreted from live PC12 cells with excellent performance. Field effect transistor (FET) has attracted high attention in biomolecules detection. However, the sensitivity of FET-based biosensors is often limited by the charge screening effect. In addition, the facile and ultra-sensitive detection for small biomolecules, which possess weak charge or electroneutral, remains to be studied. Here, the self-assembled monolayer AuNPs/three-dimensional (3D) crumpled graphene FET is structured for a biosensor by shrinking flexible polystyrene (PS) films through heat treatment method and realized label-free and ultra-sensitive detection of dopamine (DA) using DA aptamer as probes immobilized on the AuNPs/3D crumpled graphene surface. The nanoscale deformation caused by thermal expansion effect of flexible graphene/PS can effectively reduce charge screening and the synergistic application of crumpled graphene and AuNPs can promote electron transfer and the graphene carrier concentration, leading to conductivity increase and hydrophilicity enhancement of 3D graphene. In addition, the binding of DA aptamer to DA will cause conformational changes of the aptamer molecule, which affects the charge transport properties of the sensor, thus improving its selectivity and stability. The biosensor can also easily distinguish interfering substances for DA detection in complex components (PBS, human urine, and fetal calf serum) with the detection limits as low as 60, 240 and 316 zM (10−19–10−11 M), respectively. DA released from exocytosis induced by K+ stimulation was selectively detected. The results show that the biosensor can be used as an excellent tool for ultrasensitive molecular recognition and detecting the effects of exogenous reagents on living cells, which is promising for clinical diagnosis and early disease prevention.