UC Merced

The biomimetic structures of carbon nanotube porins and lipid membranes provide a membrane coating to isolate biosensor surface from potential foulants present in biological fouling solution. The lipid membranes mimic cellular membrane while the ultrashort carbon nanotube porins mimic the structure and functionalities of membrane protein channels. This versatile biosensor platform enables the ion sensing at nano-bio interfaces and opens up the potential for intracellular and multimodal sensing.

In this dissertation, I will review the properties and advantages of carbon nanotubes in the nanofluidics field. I will report the optimization of high-yield synthesis of carbon nanotube porins, the biomimetic nanochannels in membranes. I will also discuss the fully synthetic membrane with incorporation of carbon nanotube porins into a block-copolymer matrix. In addition, I will present a biomimetic approach for creating fouling-resistant pH sensors by integrating silicon nanoribbon transistor sensors with an antifouling lipid bilayer coating that contains proton-permeable carbon nanotube porin channels and demonstrate robust pH detection in a variety of complex biological fluids. And lastly I will describe potential applications of the carbon nanotube porin based biosensor platform.