DNA-decorated graphene chemical sensors

We measure the sensing response of DNA functionalized graphene to various analytes. Graphene is the current flagship nanomaterial and has been actively studied as a chemical sensor since shortly after it was isolated. Increasingly sophisticated device processing has revealed that some early measurements of graphene chemical sensing have been amplified by unintentional functionalization. We start with chemically clean graphene transistors and purposefully functionalize them to allow chemical sensing responses not found using pristine graphene. By using different DNA sequences during our functionalization, we are able to change the chemical sensitivity of the graphene. The resulting devices show fast response times, complete recovery at room temperature and discrimination between several similar analytes. This work has been supported by the IC Postdoc program, REU and the Nano/Bio Interface Center.