Ultrarapid Method for Coating Electrochemical Sensors with Antifouling Conductive Nanomaterials Enables Highly Sensitive Multiplexed Detection in Whole Blood

The commercialization of electrochemical (EC)-sensors for medical diagnostics is currently limited by their rapid fouling in biological fluids, and use of potential antifouling coatings is hindered by the complexity and cost of application methods. Here, a simple ultrafast (< 1 min) method is described for coating EC-sensors with cross-linked bovine serum albumin infused with conductive, pentaamine-functionalized, graphene particles that can be stored at room temperature for at least 20-weeks, which provides unprecedented sensitivity and selectivity for diagnostic applications. The antifouling coating is applied directly on-chip using rapid heating via simple dip-coating, which provides unprecedented high levels of electrode conductivity for up to 9-weeks in unprocessed biological samples. This method is leveraged to develop a multiplexed platform for detecting clinically relevant biomarkers including myocardial infarction and traumatic brain injury using only 15 mu L of blood. Single-digit pg mL(-1) sensitivity is obtained within minutes in unprocessed human plasma and whole blood, which is faster and at least 50 times more sensitive than traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and the signal generated is stable enough to be measured after 1 week of storage. The multiplexed EC-sensor platform is validated by analyzing 22 patient samples and demonstrating excellent correlation with reported clinical values.

Automated summary

This study presents a simple and ultrafast method for coating electrochemical sensors with an antifouling layer. The coated sensors exhibit unprecedented sensitivity and selectivity, and maintain high electrode conductivity for up to 9 weeks in unprocessed biological samples. The method is used to develop a multiplexed platform for detecting clinically relevant biomarkers, such as myocardial infarction and traumatic brain injury.