Zinc Oxide Nanostructures as Electrochemical Biosensors on Flexible Substrates

A novel flexible electrochemical biosensor for protein biomarker detection was successfully designed and fabricated on a nanoporous polyimide membrane using zinc oxide (ZnO). Nanostructures of ZnO were grown on microelectrode platform using aqueous solution bath. Electrochemical measurements were performed using gold, ZnO seed and nanostructured electrodes to study the influence of electrode surface area on biosensing performance. Feasibility analysis of sensor platforms was evaluated using high concentrations (in ng/mL) of troponin-T. The results showed that improved performance can be obtained on nanostructured platform by careful optimization of growth conditions. This study demonstrates the development of nanostructured ZnO flexible biosensors towards ultra-sensitive protein biosensing.