EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Vigorous research efforts have advanced the state-of-the-art nanosensors with ultrahigh sensitivity for bioanalysis. However, a dilemmatic challenge remains: it is extremely difficult to obtain nanosensors that are both sensitive and high-speed for the detection of low-concentration molecules in aqueous samples. In this work, we demonstrate substantially accelerated the sensing speed of low-concentration DNA molecules in aqueous suspension with retained high sensitivity by rotationally motorizing microsensors. An improvement of at least 3 to 4 times has been obtained from a sensor rotating at 630-1200 rpm. Theoretical analysis and modeling concerning both the convective-diffusion and the diffusion-absorption processes unveil the underlying working mechanism and the application range and limitation. This work provides a device scheme that could be applied to alleviate the dilemmatic challenge in biochemical sensing. The understanding of the complex interactions of molecules and moving micro-objects may assist the design of desired microrobotic systems for the capture, translocation, sensing, and release of biocargoes.