Design of Pyrrole-Based Gate-Controlled Molecular Junctions Optimized for Single-Molecule Aflatoxin B1 Detection

Autor: Fabrizio Mo, Chiara Elfi Spano, Yuri Ardesi, Massimo Ruo Roch, Gianluca Piccinini, Mariagrazia Graziano
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Sensors, Vol 23, Iss 3, p 1687 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1424-8220
DOI: 10.3390/s23031687
Popis: Food contamination by aflatoxins is an urgent global issue due to its high level of toxicity and the difficulties in limiting the diffusion. Unfortunately, current detection techniques, which mainly use biosensing, prevent the pervasive monitoring of aflatoxins throughout the agri-food chain. In this work, we investigate, through ab initio atomistic calculations, a pyrrole-based Molecular Field Effect Transistor (MolFET) as a single-molecule sensor for the amperometric detection of aflatoxins. In particular, we theoretically explain the gate-tuned current modulation from a chemical–physical perspective, and we support our insights through simulations. In addition, this work demonstrates that, for the case under consideration, the use of a suitable gate voltage permits a considerable enhancement in the sensor performance. The gating effect raises the current modulation due to aflatoxin from 100% to more than 103÷104%. In particular, the current is diminished by two orders of magnitude from the μA range to the nA range due to the presence of aflatoxin B1. Our work motivates future research efforts in miniaturized FET electrical detection for future pervasive electrical measurement of aflatoxins.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje