Graphene Field-Effect Transistors for Sensing Ion-Channel Coupled Receptors: Toward Biohybrid Nanoelectronics for Chemical Detection

Graphene field effect transistors (G-FETs) have appeared as suitable candidates for sensing charges and have thus attracted large interest for ion and chemical detections. In particular, their high sensitivity, chemical robustness, transparency, and bendability offer a unique combination for interfacing living and soft matters. Here demonstrated their ability to sense targeted biomolecules is demonstrated, by combining them with ion channel-coupled receptors (ICCRs). These receptors are naturally or artificially expressed within living cell membranes to generate ion fluxes in the presence of chemicals of interest. Here, those biosensors are successfully combined with a G-FET array which converts the bio-activation of the ICCRs into readable electronic signals. This hybrid bioelectronic device leverages the advantages of the biological receptor and the graphene field effect transistor enabling the selective detection of biomolecules, which is a current shortcoming of electronic sensors. Additionally, the G-FET allows for discrimination of the polarity of the ion fluxes which otherwise remains hidden from conventional electrophysiological recordings. The multisite recording ability offered by the G-FET array raises numerous possibilities for multiscale sensing and high throughput screening of cellular solutions or analytes, which is of both fundamental and applied interest in health and environment monitoring.