Fabrication and application of long strands of silicon nanowires as sensors for bovine serum albumin detection

Strands of aligned silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with lengths over 2 mm and diameters of 35 nm were synthesized via a two-step controlled growth. The large dimensionality made it possible to fabricate an individual strand of SiNWs into an electrode for cyclic voltammetric detection of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The strand sensor with the immense surface area and electrical conductivity of SiNWs shows the highest sensitivity and widest linear range ever reported for BSA detection. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.