Enzyme-modified field effect transistors based on surface-conductive single-crystalline diamond

Enzyme-modified field effect transistors (ENFETs) were realized using surface-conductive single-crystalline diamond films. The enzymes penicillinase and acetylcholinesterase were immobilized onto the active area of diamond-based electrolytic solution gated FETs, using different organic linker molecules and cross-linking chemistries. The active area of the devices was patterned to generate enzyme-modified regions next to surface-conductive regions. Penicillinase was chosen as a robust model system, but the main focus of the present paper is on acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme essential for many neuronal signal transduction processes. All the different ENFETs show a clear and specific response to the corresponding substrate, penicillin and acetylcholine. The device response is based on the pH sensitivity of the surface-conductive active area and is enabled by the local pH change induced during the enzymatic reaction. The devices demonstrate promising stability and characteristic variations of the enzymatic activity with measurement conditions. Furthermore, the results from the ENFET measurements were compared with the results of spectrophotometric experiments, carried out with enzymes immobilized on diamond substrates and also with free enzymes in solution. This allows an analysis of the enzyme kinetics, as well as qualitative comparison of the different functionalization methods employed in this study.