Flexible HIV-1 Biosensor Based on the Au/MoS(2) Nanoparticles/Au Nanolayer on the PET Substrate

Shin, Minkyu; Yoon, Jinho; Yi, Chanyong; Lee, Taek; Choi, Jeong-Woo

In this study, the flexible biosensor based on a Au/MoS 2 /Au nanolayer on a PET substrate was developed to detect gp120 with high sensitivity. To develop the flexible biosensor, the Au/MoS 2 /Au nanolayer was fabricated by Au sputter coating and MoS 2 NPs spin coating onto a flexible PET substrate. The fabricated Au/MoS 2 /Au nanolayer on the PET substrate showed the well-oriented NPs and uniform nanolayer formation on the PET substrate. The reduction and oxidation peak currents of the Au/MoS 2 /Au nanolayer on the PET substrate derived from the redox generator were 1.13 mA and −1.17 mA, respectively, which were much higher than those peaks of the bare gold electrodes with 0.96 mA and −1.01 mA due to the large surface area and effective electron transfer of the synthesized MoS 2 NPs. The fabricated biosensor showed highly sensitive detection of gp120 with a detection limit of 0.066 pg/mL, which was more sensitive than previously reported electrochemical HIV biosensors. This biosensor showed a selective detection of gp120 added with various antigens and proteins such as Hb, Mb, PSA, and Trx. In addition, this biosensor showed excellent flexibility with flexure extension of 1.54 mm compared to SiO 2 -based conventional gold electrodes, and the fabricated biosensor maintained the detection performance after bending. In conclusion, the proposed flexible biosensor based on a Au/MoS 2 /Au nanolayer on a PET substrate can suggest the milestone for nanomaterial-based flexible sensing platform to develop the highly sensitive biosensors with flexibility for a wearable device application. In addition, because the gp120 concentration range of the HIV infected patient can be measured, it can be used in the commercial field.