Organic field-effect transistor-based biosensors functionalizedwith protein receptors

An organic field-effect transistor with integrated proteins (Bio-FET) for sensing of sulfate ions is presented. A sulfate receptor was engineered to contain a thiol group for surface-anchoring without affecting its binding activity. The modified receptor was covalently coupled to a maleimide-functionalized polystyrene layer, and integrated as gate dielectric in a dual-gate transducer. The binding of sulfate ions in dry conditions was detected by a shift in the threshold voltage. Combined with surface density measurements by atomic force microscopy , an effective charge of − 1.7 q per protein was found, as expected from the Bio-FET operation model.