Investigation of electrical properties of DNA-attached carbon nano-particles for biological applications

Abstract

Carbon nano-particles are nano-sized crystalline with predominantly graphitic structure. Our recent work showed that DNA-attached Carbon Nano-Particles (DAC) can be positioned between microelectrodes in a microfluidic system to investigate its electrical properties. Dielectrophoretic based “deposition” led to a robust adhesion of various DACs with the chip substrate even after repeatedly DI water flushing. The IV characteristics and stability of three types of DACs under different conditions (i.e., towards open environment, sealed in dry microchannel, or immerged in DI water) were compared and analyzed. In addition, experiments were conducted to determine the temperature and humidity dependency of the DACs.