Sensing charged macromolecules with nanocrystalline diamond-based field-effect capacitive sensors

The possibility of a label-free electrical detection of layer-by-layer adsorbed polyelectrolyte (PE) multilayers using a field-effect capacitive electrolyte-diamond-insulator-semiconductor (EDIS) structure is investigated. Positively charged synthetic polyelectrolyte PAH (Poly (allylamine hydrochloride)) and negatively charged PSS (Poly (sodium 4-styrene sulfonate)) have been used as a model system. Nanocrystalline diamond films were grown on p-Si-SiO2 substrates by a microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition from a mixture of methane and hydrogen. The EDIS sensors functionalized with charged macromolecules have been characterized by means of capacitance-voltage and constant-capacitance methods. Alternating shifts in the capacitance-voltage and constant-capacitance curves have been observed after the adsorption of each polyanion and polycation layer, respectively. The effect of the number of the adsorbed PE layers and polarity of the outermost layer on the sensor response is discussed