Ionic contrast across a lipid membrane for Debye length extension: towards an ultimate bioelectronic transducer

Abstract Despite technological advances in biomolecule detections, evaluation of molecular interactions via potentiometric devices under ion-enriched solutions has remained a long-standing problem. To avoid severe performance degradation bioelectronics by ionic screening effects, we cover probe surfaces field effect transistors with single film the supported lipid bilayer, and realize respectable signals from receptor–ligand bindings irrespective strength bulky placing an ion-free water layer underneath bilayer. High-energy X-ray reflectometry together circuit analysis dynamics simulation discovered biochemical findings that effective electrical dominantly originated sub-nanoscale conformational change lipids course bindings. Beyond thorough on underlying mechanism at level, proposed bilayer-field transistor platform ensures world-record level sensitivity detection excellent reproducibility regardless charges environmental conditions.