Received September 27, 2007

Revised October 18, 2007

Abstract:

Nanofluidic channels can be used to enhance surface binding reactions, since the target molecules are closely confined to the surfaces that are coated with specific binding partners. Moreover, diffusion-limited binding can be significantly enhanced if the molecules are steered into the nanochannels via either pressure-driven or electrokinetic flow. By monitoring the nanochannel impedance, which is sensitive to surface binding, low analyte concentrations have been detected electrically in nanofluidic channels within response times of 1-2 h. This represents a ~54 fold reduction in the response time using convective flow compared to diffusion-limited binding. At high-flow velocities, the presented method of reaction kinetics enhancement is potentially limited by force-induced dissociations of the receptor-ligand bonds. Optimization of this scheme could be useful for label-free, electrical detection of biomolecule binding reactions within nanochannels on a chip.

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