Publication: Modulating Selectivity in Nanogap Sensors

H. R. Zafarani, K. Mathwig, S. G. Lemay, E. J. R. Sudhölter and L. Rassaei, ACS Sensors 1 (2016) 1439.
[link, pdf]

flower_tocInterference or crosstalk of coexisting redox species results in overlapping of electrochemical signals, and it is a major hurdle in sensor development. In nanogap sensors, redox cycling between two independently biased working electrodes results in an amplified electrochemical signal and an enhanced sensitivity. Here, we report new strategies for selective sensing of three different redox species in a nanogap sensor of a two femtoliter volume. Our approach relies on modulating the electrode potentials to define specific potential windows between the two working electrodes; consequently, specific detection of each redox species is achieved. Finite element modelling is employed to simulate the electrochemical processes in the nanogap sensor, and the results are in good agreement with those of experiments.