Hydration induced stress on DNA monolayers grafted on microcantilevers

Influence of the Atmosphere on the Wettability of Polymer Brushes

Polymer brushes, i.e., end-tethered polymer chains on substrates, are sensitive to adaptation, e.g., swelling, adsorption, and reorientation of the surface molecules. This adaptation can originate from a contacting liquid or atmosphere for partially wetted substrates. The macroscopic contact angle of the aqueous drop can depend on both adaptation mechanisms. We analyze how the atmosphere around an aqueous droplet determines the resulting contact angle of the wetting droplet on polymer brush surfaces. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAAm)-based brushes are used due to their exceptional sensitivity to solvation and liquid mixture composition. We develop a method that reliably measures wetting properties when the drop and the surrounding atmosphere are not in equilibrium, e.g., when evaporation and condensation tend to contaminate the liquid of the drop and the atmosphere. For this purpose, we use a coaxial needle in the droplet, which continuously exchanges the wetting liquid, and in addition, we constantly exchange the almost saturated atmosphere. Depending on the wetting history, PNiPAAm can be prepared in two states, state A with a large water contact angle (∼65°) and state B with a small water contact angle (∼25°). With the coaxial needle, we can demonstrate that the water contact angle of a sample in state B significantly increases by ∼30° when a water-free atmosphere is almost saturated with ethanol, compared to an ethanol-free atmosphere at 50% relative humidity. For a sample in state A, the relative humidity has little influence on the water contact angle.

A Genosensor Based on the Modification of a Microcantilever: A Review

When the free end of a microcantilever is modified by a genetic probe, this sensor can be used for a wider range of applications, such as for chemical analysis, biological testing, pharmaceutical screening, and environmental monitoring. In this paper, to clarify the preparation and detection process of a microcantilever sensor with genetic probe modification, the core procedures, such as probe immobilization, complementary hybridization, and signal extraction and processing, are combined and compared. Then, to reveal the microcantilever's detection mechanism and analysis, the influencing factors of testing results, the theoretical research, including the deflection principle, the establishment and verification of a detection model, as well as environmental influencing factors are summarized. Next, to demonstrate the application results of the genetic-probe-modified sensors, based on the classification of detection targets, the application status of other substances except nucleic acid, virus, bacteria and cells is not introduced. Finally, by enumerating the application results of a genetic-probe-modified microcantilever combined with a microfluidic chip, the future development direction of this technology is surveyed. It is hoped that this review will contribute to the future design of a genetic-probe-modified microcantilever, with further exploration of the sensitive mechanism, optimization of the design and processing methods, expansion of the application fields, and promotion of practical application.

Detection of Trace Amounts of Water in Organic Solvents by DNA-Based Nanomechanical Sensors

The detection of trace amounts of water in organic solvents is of great importance in the field of chemistry and in the industry. Karl Fischer titration is known as a classic method and is widely used for detecting trace amounts of water; however, it has some limitations in terms of rapid and direct detection because of its time-consuming sample preparation and specific equipment requirements. Here, we found that a DNA-based nanomechanical sensor exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity to water vapor, leading to the detection and quantification of trace amounts of water in organic solvents as low as 12 ppm in THF, with a ppb level of LoD through their vapors. Since the present method is simple and rapid, it can be an alternative technique to the conventional Karl Fischer titration.

Fundamentals and Applications of Polymer Brushes in Air

For several decades, high-density, end-tethered polymers, forming so-called polymer brushes, have inspired scientists to understand their properties and to translate them to applications. While earlier research focused on polymer brushes in liquids, it was recently recognized that these brushes can find application in air as well. In this review, we report on recent progress in unraveling fundamental concepts of brushes in air, such as their vapor-swelling and solvent partitioning. Moreover, we provide an overview of the plethora of applications in air (e.g., in sensing, separations or smart adhesives) where brushes can be key components. To conclude, we provide an outlook by identifying open questions and issues that, when solved, will pave the way for the large scale application of brushes in air.

A Review on Theory and Modelling of Nanomechanical Sensors for Biological Applications

Over the last decades, nanomechanical sensors have received significant attention from the scientific community, as they find plenty of applications in many different research fields, ranging from fundamental physics to clinical diagnosis. Regarding biological applications, nanomechanical sensors have been used for characterizing biological entities, for detecting their presence, and for characterizing the forces and motion associated with fundamental biological processes, among many others. Thanks to the continuous advancement of micro- and nano-fabrication techniques, nanomechanical sensors have rapidly evolved towards more sensitive devices. At the same time, researchers have extensively worked on the development of theoretical models that enable one to access more, and more precise, information about the biological entities and/or biological processes of interest. This paper reviews the main theoretical models applied in this field. We first focus on the static mode, and then continue on to the dynamic one. Then, we center the attention on the theoretical models used when nanomechanical sensors are applied in liquids, the natural environment of biology. Theory is essential to properly unravel the nanomechanical sensors signals, as well as to optimize their designs. It provides access to the basic principles that govern nanomechanical sensors applications, along with their intrinsic capabilities, sensitivities, and fundamental limits of detection.

Direct Detection of OXA-48 Carbapenemase Gene in Lysate Samples through Changes in Mechanical Properties of DNA Monolayers upon Hybridization

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae have recently become an important cause of morbidity and mortality due to healthcare-associated infections. Most commonly used diagnostic methods are incompatible with fast and accurate directed therapy. We report here the direct identification of the bla_OXA48 gene, which codes for the carbapenemase OXA-48, in lysate samples from Klebsiella pneumoniae. The method is PCR-free and label-free. It is based on the measurement of changes in the stiffness of DNA self-assembled monolayers anchored to microcantilevers that occur as a consequence of the hybridization. The stiffness of the DNA layer is measured through changes of the sensor resonance frequency upon hybridization and at varying relative humidity.

Effect of water-DNA interactions on elastic properties of DNA self-assembled monolayers

DNA-water interactions have revealed as very important actor in DNA mechanics, from the molecular to the macroscopic scale. Given the particularly useful properties of DNA molecules to engineer novel materials through self-assembly and by bridging organic and inorganic materials, the interest in understanding DNA elasticity has crossed the boundaries of life science to reach also materials science and engineering. Here we show that thin films of DNA constructed through the self-assembly of sulfur tethered ssDNA strands demonstrate a Young's modulus tuning range of about 10 GPa by simply varying the environment relative humidity from 0% up to 70%. We observe that the highest tuning range occurs for ssDNA grafting densities of about 3.5 × 10¹³ molecules/cm ², where the distance between the molecules maximizes the water mediated interactions between the strands. Upon hybridization with the complementary strand, the DNA self-assembled monolayers significantly soften by one order of magnitude and their Young's modulus dependency on the hydration state drastically decreases. The experimental observations are in agreement with molecular dynamics simulations.

Spatially Multiplexed Micro-Spectrophotometry in Bright Field Mode for Thin Film Characterization

Thickness characterization of thin films is of primary importance in a variety of nanotechnology applications, either in the semiconductor industry, quality control in nanofabrication processes or engineering of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) because small thickness variability can strongly compromise the device performance. Here, we present an alternative optical method in bright field mode called Spatially Multiplexed Micro-Spectrophotometry that allows rapid and non-destructive characterization of thin films over areas of mm² and with 1 μm of lateral resolution. We demonstrate an accuracy of 0.1% in the thickness characterization through measurements performed on four microcantilevers that expand an area of 1.8 mm² in one minute of analysis time. The measured thickness variation in the range of few tens of nm translates into a mechanical variability that produces an error of up to 2% in the response of the studied devices when they are used to measure surface stress variations.

Influence of disordered packing pattern on elastic modulus of single-stranded DNA film on substrate

Determining mechanical properties of single-stranded DNA film grafted on gold surface is critical for analysis and design of DNA-microcantilever biosensors. However, it remains an open issue to quantify the relations among the disordered packing patterns of DNA chains, the mechanical properties of DNA film and the resultant biodetection signals. In this paper, first, the bending experiment of microcantilever is carried out to provide the basic data for a refined multi-scale model of microcantilever deflection induced by ssDNA immobilization. In the model, the complicated interactions in DNA film (consisting of DNA, water molecules and salt ions) are simplified as effective interactions among coarse-grained soft cylinders, which can reveal the varieties of DNA structure in the circumstances of different lengths and salt concentrations; Ohshima's distribution of net charge density is employed to incorporate compositional variations of salt ions along the thickness direction into the Strey's mesoscopic empirical potential on molecular interactions in DNA solutions, and the related model parameters for ssDNA film on substrate are obtained from the curve fitting with our microcantilever bending experiment. Second, the effect of nanoscopic distribution of DNA chains on elastic modulus of ssDNA film is studied by a thought experiment of uniaxial compression, and the disordered patterns of DNA chains are generated by Monte Carlo method. Simulation results point out that nanoscale ssDNA film shows size effect, gradient and diversity in elastic modulus and can achieve maximum stiffness by preferring a disordered and energetically favorable packing pattern collectively induced by electrostatic force, hydration force and configurational entropy.