Graphene-based sensor for detection of bacterial pathogens
Journal article, 2021

Microbial colonization to biomedical surfaces and biofilm formation is one of the key challenges in the medical field. Recalcitrant biofilms on such surfaces cause serious infections which are difficult to treat using antimicrobial agents, due to their complex structure. Early detection of microbial colonization and monitoring of biofilm growth could turn the tide by providing timely guidance for treatment or replacement of biomedical devices. Hence, there is a need for sensors, which could generate rapid signals upon bacterial colonization. In this study, we developed a simple prototype sensor based on pristine, non-functionalized graphene. The detection principle is a change in electrical resistance of graphene upon exposure to bacterial cells. Without functionalization with specific receptors, such sensors cannot be expected to be selective to certain bacteria. However, we demonstrated that two different bacterial species can be detected and differentiated by our sensor due to their different growth dynamics, adherence pattern, density of adhered bacteria and microcolonies formation. These distinct behaviors of tested bacteria depicted distinguishable pattern of resistance change, resistance versus gate voltage plot and hysteresis effect. This sensor is simple to fabricate, can easily be miniaturized, and can be effective in cases when precise identification of species is not needed.

Staphylococcus epidermidis

Graphene

Sensors

Biofilms

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Author

Santosh Pandit

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Mengyue Li

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Quantum Device Physics

Yanyan Chen

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Shadi Rahimi

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Venkata Raghavendra Subrahmanya Sar Mokkapati

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Alessandra Merlo

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Avgust Yurgens

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Quantum Device Physics

Ivan Mijakovic

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Sensors

14248220 (eISSN)

Vol. 21 23 8085

Subject Categories

Infectious Medicine

Microbiology

Microbiology in the medical area

DOI

10.3390/s21238085

PubMed

34884089

More information

Latest update

1/14/2022