Surface Functionalized Graphene Biosensor on Sapphire for Cancer Cell Detection

Graphene has several unique physical, optical and electrical properties such as a two-dimensional (2D) planar structure, high optical transparency and high carrier mobility at room temperature. These make graphene interesting for electrical biosensing. Using a catalyst-free chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, graphene film is grown on a sapphire substrate. There is a single or a few sheets as confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Electrical graphene biosensors are fabricated to detect large-sized biological analytes such as cancer cells. Human colorectal carcinoma cells are sensed by the resistance change of an active bio-functionalized graphene device as the cells are captured by the immobilized antibody surface. The functionalized sensors show an increase in resistance as large as similar to 20% of the baseline with a small number of adhered cells. This study suggests that the bio-functionalized electrical graphene sensors on sapphire, which is a highly transparent material, can potentially detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and monitor cellular electrical behavior while being compatible with fluorescence-based optical detection bioassays.