ENZYME-FREE GLUCOSE DETECTION CHIP
20170219511 · 2017-08-03
Inventors
- Gou-Jen WANG (Taichung, TW)
- Che-Wei Hsu (Taichung, TW)
- Mike YANG (Hsinchu, TW)
- Hsueh-chuan LIAO (Hsinchu, TW)
- Po-Yu PENG (Hsinchu, TW)
Cpc classification
G01N2400/00
PHYSICS
G01N27/3278
PHYSICS
International classification
G01N27/327
PHYSICS
Abstract
Disclosed in the present invention is an enzyme-free glucose detection chip, including: a substrate; a detection portion, disposed on an end surface of the substrate; a plurality of protrusions, disposed at the detection portion; a conductive layer, disposed on a surface of the substrate having the protrusions; and a plurality of gold nanoparticles, dispersed on surfaces of the protrusions. In the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention, protrusions having gold nanoparticles are used as electrodes, are structures on a micrometer scale and a nanometer scale, and can directly react with glucose without any glucose oxidase or/and any medium.
Claims
1. An enzyme-free glucose detection chip, comprising: a substrate; a detection portion, disposed on an end surface of the substrate; a plurality of protrusions, disposed at the detection portion; a conductive layer, disposed on a surface of the substrate having the protrusions; and a plurality of gold nanoparticles, dispersed on surfaces of the protrusions.
2. The enzyme-free glucose detection chip according to claim 1, wherein each protrusion is semispherical.
3. The enzyme-free glucose detection chip according to claim 1, wherein each protrusion is columnar.
4. The enzyme-free glucose detection chip according to claim 1, wherein each protrusion has a micrometer-level size.
5. The enzyme-free glucose detection chip according to claim 2, wherein each protrusion has a diameter between 1 micrometer and 20 micrometers.
6. The enzyme-free glucose detection chip according to claim 1, wherein each gold nanoparticle has a diameter between 2 nanometers and 100 nanometers.
7. A method for massively preparing the enzyme-free glucose detection chips according to claim 1, comprising the following steps: step a: taking a base material, and coating a surface of the base material with a photoresist coating; step b: treating the base material by using a photolithography technology, so that the base material comprises a plurality of detection portions, and each detection portion has a photoresist array; step c: sputtering a gold film on a surface of the base material having the photoresist array; step d: cutting the base material into a plurality of substrates, wherein each substrate comprises a detection portion; step e: evenly dispersing gold nanoparticles on surfaces of the photoresist arrays; and step f: obtaining a massive quantity of enzyme-free glucose detection chips.
8. The method for massively preparing the enzyme-free glucose detection chips according to claim 7, further comprising a thermal melting step between step b and step c: deforming the photoresist array with a temperature higher than a glass-transition temperature of a photoresist.
9. The method for massively preparing the enzyme-free glucose detection chips according to claim 7, further comprising a packaging step between step e and step f: covering a region other than the detection portion on the substrate with a packaging layer.
10. The method for massively preparing the enzyme-free glucose detection chips according to claim 7, further comprising a packaging step between step e and step f: covering a region other than the detection portion on the substrate with a packaging layer.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0043] Disclosed in the present invention an enzyme-free glucose detection chip, including: a substrate; a detection portion, disposed on an end surface of the substrate; a plurality of protrusions, evenly distributed at the detection portion; a conductive layer, disposed on a surface of the substrate having the protrusions; and a plurality of gold nanoparticles, evenly distributed on surfaces of the protrusions. In the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention, protrusions having gold nanoparticles are used as electrodes, are structures on a micrometer scale and a nanometer scale, and can directly react with glucose without any glucose oxidase or/and any medium.
[0044] The enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention is prepared through photolithography, a photoresist thermal melting method, and a step of sputtering a gold film. First, through photolithography, a photoresist array is provided on the substrate. Subsequently, the photoresist thermal melting method is performed, where the photoresist array is heated and softened.
[0045] Next, the step of sputtering a gold film is performed to provide a gold nano-film on the substrate. Subsequently, gold nanoparticles are disposed on surfaces of the protrusions having the gold film. Therefore, the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention can be obtained.
[0046] When the foregoing preparation method is applied to a base material having a large size, a plurality of enzyme-free glucose detection chips can be fabricated at the same time on the base material. That is, the base material may be cut into a plurality of substrates having suitable sizes, and each substrate has one detection portion.
[0047] Referring to
[0048] (I) Cleaning a silicon chip and a photoresist coating A substrate (20) formed of a silicon chip having a predetermined size is taken, sequentially cleaned in acetone, alcohol, and deionized water with an ultrasound wave, and blown with nitrogen gas, and residual moisture is removed with a heating plate.
[0049] First, the substrate (20) is coated with hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), so as to increase the adhesion between a surface of the substrate and a photoresist coating. Next, the surface of the substrate (20) is coated with a photoresist through spin coating, forming a photoresist layer (30).
[0050] In an embodiment of the present invention, the photoresist is an AZ1518 positive photoresist. Spin coating parameters used for the AZ1518 positive photoresist are as follows: a spinning speed at a first level is 500 rpm, and a spinning time is 10 seconds; a spinning speed at a second level is 1500 rpm, and a spinning time is 40 seconds; and a coating thickness of the photoresist layer is approximately 1 μm to 10 μm, and is preferably 3 μm.
[0051] Finally, the substrate having the photoresist layer is dried in a manner such as baking.
[0052] (II) Exposure and Development
[0053] A mask aligner is used to transfer a required pattern to the photoresist layer (30) on the substrate (20). Subsequently, a 2.38% THAM development solution is used for treatment. As a result, a silicon chip having a columnar photoresist array (40) is obtained, as shown in
[0054] In an embodiment of the present invention, the model of the mask aligner is EVG620, the intensity of a light source is approximately 22 mW/cm.sup.2 (i-line), an exposure time is approximately 7.5 seconds, and a development time is approximately 50 seconds.
[0055] A development condition is confirmed with an optical microscope.
[0056] (III) Thermal Melting Step
[0057] By means of gradually increasing environmental temperature to be higher than a glass-transition temperature of the photoresist, and based on the influence of surface tension, the columnar photoresist array (40) gradually becomes a semispherical photoresist array (50) in a thermal melting process, the semispherical photoresist array (50) having a plurality of protrusions (51), as shown in
[0058] In an embodiment of the present invention, the glass-transition temperature of the AZ1518 positive photoresist is 130° C., and the environmental temperature is gradually increased to 150° C. within 5 minutes.
[0059] Moreover, in a process of fabricating the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention, the thermal melting step is to change a columnar photoresist array into a semispherical photoresist array. However, the thermal melting step is not an essential step in fabrication of the enzyme-free glucose chip, that is, if a photoresist array to be used is not semispherical, this step may be omitted.
[0060] (IV) Sputtering of a Gold Film and Deposition of Gold Nanoparticles
[0061] After the thermal melting step, a gold film (60) is sputtered on a surface of the substrate (20) having the semispherical photoresist array (50) through a direct-current sputtering method, and then the gold nanoparticles (61) are evenly disposed on surfaces of the semispherical photoresist arrays, so as to obtain the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention, as shown in
[0062] In an embodiment of the present invention, a gold film layer is sputtered on the substrate with a direct-current sputtering machine. Sputtering conditions are as follows: A pressure is 0.08 millibar, a current is 30 milliampere, and a treatment time is 135 seconds. To ensure the evenness of the sputtered gold film, a sample is usually heated to 120° C. at a heating rate of 5° C/minute, the temperature is kept for approximately 80 minutes, and eventually the sample is cooled to room temperature.
[0063] Furthermore, to ensure the consistency of a sensing region, a packaging step also needs to be added. The packaging step can be performed before or after gold nanoparticles are deposited.
[0064] In an embodiment of the present invention, packaging is performed by using a screen printing technology. In particular, a base material is taken; the base material is treated according to the photolithography, the photoresist thermal melting method, and the step of sputtering of a gold film, and the like in the foregoing embodiment; the base material is then cut into a plurality of substrates, where each substrate has a detection portion. The cut base material is fixed by an adhesive tape. Subsequently, a screen plate having a certain pattern is aligned with the base material. After ink is applied so that the ink covers a region other than a sensing portion, the screen plate is removed. After the ink is dried, the cut substrates are then removed one by one from the adhesive tape. Then, a subsequent step such as deposition of gold nanoparticles is performed.
[0065] In an embodiment of the present invention, a conductive silver wire is first disposed on a glass slide and used as a lead. A sealing film having a predetermined size and having a hole is then bonded to the enzyme-free glucose detection chip, where the hole on the sealing film corresponds to the detection portion, and the sealing film is used to cover a block of a non-detection portion on the enzyme-free glucose detection chip and the glass slide.
[0066] In an embodiment of the present invention, after sputtering of the gold film layer is completed, the surfaces of the protrusions are modified with a molecular layer. For example, the surfaces of the protrusions are modified with an APTMS molecule solution.
[0067] The gold nanoparticles disclosed in the present invention are prepared by using a technology belonging to the technical field of the present invention and well known by a person of ordinary skill. For detailed technical content, reference may be made to I.-C. Ni, S.-C. Yang, C.-W. Jiang, C.-S. Luo, W. Kuo, K.-J. Lin, et al., Formation mechanism, patterning, and physical properties of gold-nanoparticle films assembled by an interaction-controlled centrifugal method, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 116(2012) 8095-101. Details are not described herein.
[0068] Referring to
[0069] In an embodiment of the present invention, if the protrusions are not arranged in a hexagonal shape, efficacy of the present invention can also be achieved.
[0070] In addition, in an embodiment disclosed in the present invention, a size of the base material and a size of the detection portion can be changed according to a manufacturing requirement. For example, a 6-inch silicon chip may be used as the base material, and preferably 40 detection portions are disposed on the 6-inch chip.
[0071] The structure and performance of the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention are described below through several examples with reference to the drawings. In an example below, where an SP-150 potentiostat (Bio-Logic, USA) is used as an electrochemical detection instrument.
EXAMPLE 1
Observation of a Process of Fabricating an Enzyme-Free Glucose Detection Chip
[0072] Referring to
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[0075] Referring to
EXAMPLE 2
Analyzation of the Enzyme-Free Glucose Detection chip disclosed in the present invention through cyclic voltammetry
[0076] In this example, an actual sensing region of the protrusions of the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention is estimated through the cyclic voltammetry in a 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (the ph value is 7.0) at a scan rate of 50 mV.Math.s-1. The result is shown in
[0077] Referring to
[0078] Moreover, at different scan rates: 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, and 400 mV.Math.s-1, in a 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution containing 5.56 mM of glucose electrolytes, the protrusions disclosed in the present invention are observed through cyclic voltammetry. The result is shown in
i.sub.p=2.69×10.sup.5×n.sup.3/2×A×C×D.sup.1/2×v.sup.1/2
[0079] where i.sub.p represents the value of a peak current (A); n represents the number of electrons appearing in a half reaction for redox electron pairs; A is the area (square centimeter) of an electrode; C is the concentration (mol/cm.sup.3) of an analyte; and D is a diffusion rate (V/s) of the analyte. Suppose A, C, and D are all fixed, i.sub.p is directly proportional to a square root of the scan rate.
[0080] A linear relationship between the peak current and the scan rate of protrusions disclosed in the present invention is shown in
EXAMPLE 3
Analyzation of the Sensitivity of the Enzyme-Free Glucose Detection Chip Disclosed in the Present Invention
[0081] Through cyclic voltammetry, at a scan rate of 50 mV.Math.s-1, on condition that a 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution contains different concentration of glucose: 0, 0.06, 0.28, 0.56, 1.39, 2.78, 4.16, 5.56, 6.94, 8.32, 9.71, 11.10, and 13.89 mM, a cyclic voltammogram shown in
[0082] Moreover, 1 mM glucose is continuously added to the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention, and a current analysis method is used to perform analysis. The result is shown in
[0083] As can be seen from the result in
[0084] As can be seen from the result in
[0085] As can be seen according to the foregoing result, the high sensitivity of the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention is due to a relatively large effective sensing area of the enzyme-free glucose detection chip, which can oxidize a significant amount of glucose.
EXAMPLE 4
Analyzation of the Selectivity of the Enzyme-Free Glucose Detection Chip Disclosed in the Present Invention
[0086] Other substances such as ascorbic acid in human blood may interfere with the performance of a glucose detection instrument. The reason is that in a normal human body, the glucose concentration (3 mM to 8 mM) is much higher than the concentration (˜0.1 mM) of the interfering substance. Therefore, the selectivity of the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention can be detected by reducing the concentration ratio of the glucose to the ascorbic acid to 10.
[0087] 1 mM of glucose, 0.1 mM of ascorbic acid, and a 0.1 M of sodium hydroxide solution containing 1 mM of glucose are sequentially injected onto the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention in a condition of an operable potential of 0.1 V, to perform detection. The result is shown in
EXAMPLE 5
Analyzation of the Stability of the Enzyme-Free Glucose Detection Chip Disclosed in the Present Invention
[0088] A 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution containing 5.56 mM of glucose is used as an electrolyte. The stability of the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention is detected cyclically through 20 times of cyclic voltammetry. The result is shown in
[0089] Because the electrolyte is not stirred, the oxidization reaction of glucose is the most intense and the most rapid during the first time of scan. Therefore, a wave peak obtained at the first time of cyclic voltammetry scan is higher than wave peaks obtained in subsequent scans. After the first time of scan, the glucose near the surface of the electrode (that is, the protrusion) is reacted and consumed, so that reactions observed in subsequent scans are reduced. However, after the second time of scan, a wave peak current changes very slightly, because the glucose is continuously diffused to the surface of the electrode, and a diffusion speed and a reaction speed are nearly the same, so that reactions change slightly in subsequent scans. The result shows that, the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention has high stability.
[0090] In addition, after the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention is stored in air at room temperature for two months, the detection performance of the enzyme-free glucose detection chip still remains unchanged. In other words, the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention can be stored easily, and is not deteriorated or modified under the influence of an external environmental factor, thereby completely overcoming the disadvantage that a conventional glucose detection test strip is deteriorated because of an environmental factor.
EXAMPLE 6
Efficacy Comparison Result
[0091] Other enzyme-free glucose sensors found in the documents are shown in Table 1 below:
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Different enzyme-free glucose sensors No. Data source 1 D. Feng, F. Wang, Z. Chen, Electrochemical glucose sensor based on one-step construction of gold nanoparticle-chitosan composite film, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 138(2009) 539-44. 2 J. Li, Z. Wang, P. Li, N. Zong, F. Li, A sensitive non-enzyme sensing platform for glucose based on boronic acid-diol binding, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 161(2012) 832-7. 3 F. Xu, K. Cui, Y. Sun, C. Guo, Z. Liu, Y. Zhang, et al., Facile synthesis of urchin-like gold submicrostructures for nonenzymatic glucose sensing, Talanta, 82(2010) 1845-52. 4 L. Chen, X. Lang, T. Fujita, M. Chen, Nanoporous gold for enzyme-free electrochemical glucose sensors, Scripta Materialia, 65(2011) 17-20. 5 H. Shu, L. Cao, G. Chang, H. He, Y. Zhang, Y. He, Direct electrodeposition of gold nanostructures onto glassy carbon electrodes for non-enzymatic detection of glucose, Electrochimica Acta, 132(2014) 524-32. 6 S. Cherevko, C.-H. Chung, Gold nanowire array electrode for non-enzymatic voltammetric and amperometric glucose detection, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 142(2009) 216-23. 7 C. Shen, J. Su, X. Li, J. Luo, M. Yang, Electrochemical sensing platform based on Pd—Au bimetallic cluster for non-enzymatic detection of glucose, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 209(2015) 695-700.
[0092] The sensitivity, limits of detection (LOD), and linear ranges of the foregoing enzyme-free glucose detectors numbered 1 to 7 and the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention are compared, and the result is shown in Table 2 below.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Comparison of sensitivity, limits of detection, and linear ranges of the enzyme-free glucose detection tools Limit of Linear Sensitivity detection range No. Electrode (μA .Math. mM-1 .Math. cm-2) (μM) (mM) 1 Chitosan/gold Not available 370 0.4-10.7 nanoparticles/glassy carbon electrode (Chitosan/GNPs/GCE) 2 Gold Not available 0.05 0.0001-0.0135 nanoparticles-platinum/ glass electrode (GNPs-PB/GE) 3 Nafion-UGS/glassy 16.8 10 0.2-13.2 carbon electrode (Nafion-Urchin-like gold submicrostructures/GCE) 4 Nanoporous gold 20.1 3 10.-18.0 (Nanoporous Au) 5 Gold 19.07 0.05 0.1-25 nanostructure/glassy carbon electrode (Gold nanostructure/GCE) 6 Gold nanowire array 309 50 0.5-14 (Gold nanowire array) 7 Palladium-gold cluster 75.3 50 0.1-30 (Pd—Au cluster) Present Sensor having a 749.2 9 0.0556-13.89 invention micro/nano composite structure
[0093] As can be seen from the result in Table 2, the stability, sensitivity, limits of detection, and linear ranges of the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention are all significantly superior to those of current existing enzyme-free glucose detection tools.
[0094] As can be seen from the foregoing description, the enzyme-free glucose detection chip disclosed in the present invention has advantages of a simple fabrication process, a low cost, and easy storage. The above examples are merely provided to describe the present invention, and any simple modification or change made to the embodiments in the specification by a person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention should be covered by the patent scope of the claims of the present application.