Carbon nanomaterials field-effect-transistor-based biosensors

Carbon nanomaterials field-effect transistor (FET)-based electrical biosensors provide significant advantages over the current gold standards, holding great potential for realizing direct, label-free, real-time electrical detection of biomolecules in a multiplexed manner with ultrahigh sensitivity and excellent selectivity. The feasibility of integrating them with current complementary metal oxide semiconductor platform and a fluid handling module using standard microfabrication technology opens up new opportunities for the development of low-cost, low-noise, portable electrical biosensors for use in practical future devices. In this article, we review recent progress in the rapidly developing area of biomolecular interaction detection using FET-based biosensors based on the carbon nanomaterials single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphene. Detection scenarios include DNA–DNA hybridization, DNA–protein interaction, protein function and cellular activity. In particular, we will highlight an amazing property of SWNTor graphene-FETs in biosensing: their ability to detect biomolecules at the single-molecule level or at the single-cell level. This is due to the size comparability and the surface compatibility of the carbon nanomaterials with biological molecules. We also summarize some current challenges the scientific community is facing, including device-to-device heterogeneity and the lack of system integration for uniform device array mass production. NPG Asia Materials (2012) 4, e23; doi:10.1038/am.2012.42; published online 17 August 2012