High specific surface gold electrode on polystyrene substrate: Characterization and application as DNA biosensor.

In the past decades, many efforts have been made to improve the sensitivity and specificity of electrochemical DNA biosensors. However, it is still strongly required to develop disposable and reliable DNA biosensors for wide and practical application. In this article, we reported superior electrochemical properties of an integrated plastic-gold electrode (PGE) fabricated in-house by chemical plating on polystyrene substrate. PGEs were found having extremely high capacity of DNA immobilization compared with gold electrodes fabricated by standard sputtering based photolithography. Unique nano-structured surface was observed on PGEs through morphology techniques, which would to some extend give an explanation to higher capacity of DNA immobilization on PGEs. A probable mechanism of carboxylic acid produced on polystyrene substrate after exposure to UV irradiation was proposed and discussed for the first time. This biosensor was applied to detection and manipulate of DNA hybridization. Detection limit of 7.2×10(-11) M and 1-500 nM of linearity range was obtained.