A Novel Method for Fabricating Graphene Sensors in Channel for Biomedical Applications

Graphene is a 2D material possessing extraordinary electrical, mechanical and optical properties which paves way for biomedical applications. A well-known method to fabricate graphene-based devices is depositing graphene using chemical vapor deposition and transferring it to any substrate using polymer support like PMMA (Polymethyl methacrylate) or PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane). In this process multiple wetting and drying steps are required which compromises the quality of graphene. Also, PMMA leaves residues that are difficult to remove. Here, we report a novel method to fabricate graphene sensors inside PDMS channels. In this method graphene/copper stack is bonded on a PDMS surface using mechanical pressure and temperature. This PDMS layer is then bonded to another PDMS substrate containing microchannel. Etchant is flown through the microchannel to etch the copper and obtain graphene on PDMS. The graphene obtained on PDMS is characterized using optical images, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. This is an easy, simple to use and scalable method to obtain graphene sensors inside microchannels for biomedical applications