Electrical Characterization of Cellulose-Based Membranes towards Pathogen Detection in Water
Paper substrates are promising for development of cost-effective and efficient point-of-care biosensors, essential for public healthcare and environmental diagnostics in emergency situations. Most paper-based biosensors rely on the natural capillarity of paper to perform qualitative or semi-quantita...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Biosensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6374/11/2/57 |
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| author | Grégoire Le Brun Margo Hauwaert Audrey Leprince Karine Glinel Jacques Mahillon Jean-Pierre Raskin |
| author_facet | Grégoire Le Brun Margo Hauwaert Audrey Leprince Karine Glinel Jacques Mahillon Jean-Pierre Raskin |
| author_sort | Grégoire Le Brun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Paper substrates are promising for development of cost-effective and efficient point-of-care biosensors, essential for public healthcare and environmental diagnostics in emergency situations. Most paper-based biosensors rely on the natural capillarity of paper to perform qualitative or semi-quantitative colorimetric detections. To achieve quantification and better sensitivity, technologies combining paper-based substrates and electrical detection are being developed. In this work, we demonstrate the potential of electrical measurements by means of a simple, parallel-plate electrode setup towards the detection of whole-cell bacteria captured in nitrocellulose (NC) membranes. Unlike current electrical sensors, which are mostly integrated, this plug and play system has reusable electrodes and enables simple and fast bacterial detection through impedance measurements. The characterized NC membrane was subjected to (i) a biofunctionalization, (ii) different saline solutions modelling real water samples, and (iii) bacterial suspensions of different concentrations. Bacterial detection was achieved in low conductivity buffers through both resistive and capacitive changes in the sensed medium. To capture <i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i>, the model microorganism used in this work, the endolysin cell-wall binding domain (CBD) of Deep-Blue, a bacteriophage targeting this bacterium, was integrated into the membranes as a recognition bio-interface. This experimental proof-of-concept illustrates the electrical detection of 10<sup>7</sup> colony-forming units (CFU) mL<sup>−1</sup> bacteria in low-salinity buffers within 5 min, using a very simple setup. This offers perspectives for affordable pathogen sensors that can easily be reconfigured for different bacteria. Water quality testing is a particularly interesting application since it requires frequent testing, especially in emergency situations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:40:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-20001b13c40b47d48dee81ea62cf7585 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6374 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:40:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biosensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-20001b13c40b47d48dee81ea62cf75852023-12-11T17:52:26ZengMDPI AGBiosensors2079-63742021-02-011125710.3390/bios11020057Electrical Characterization of Cellulose-Based Membranes towards Pathogen Detection in WaterGrégoire Le Brun0Margo Hauwaert1Audrey Leprince2Karine Glinel3Jacques Mahillon4Jean-Pierre Raskin5Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumInstitute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumLaboratory of Food and Environmental Microbiology, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumInstitute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences (Bio and Soft Matter), UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, BelgiumLaboratory of Food and Environmental Microbiology, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumInstitute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumPaper substrates are promising for development of cost-effective and efficient point-of-care biosensors, essential for public healthcare and environmental diagnostics in emergency situations. Most paper-based biosensors rely on the natural capillarity of paper to perform qualitative or semi-quantitative colorimetric detections. To achieve quantification and better sensitivity, technologies combining paper-based substrates and electrical detection are being developed. In this work, we demonstrate the potential of electrical measurements by means of a simple, parallel-plate electrode setup towards the detection of whole-cell bacteria captured in nitrocellulose (NC) membranes. Unlike current electrical sensors, which are mostly integrated, this plug and play system has reusable electrodes and enables simple and fast bacterial detection through impedance measurements. The characterized NC membrane was subjected to (i) a biofunctionalization, (ii) different saline solutions modelling real water samples, and (iii) bacterial suspensions of different concentrations. Bacterial detection was achieved in low conductivity buffers through both resistive and capacitive changes in the sensed medium. To capture <i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i>, the model microorganism used in this work, the endolysin cell-wall binding domain (CBD) of Deep-Blue, a bacteriophage targeting this bacterium, was integrated into the membranes as a recognition bio-interface. This experimental proof-of-concept illustrates the electrical detection of 10<sup>7</sup> colony-forming units (CFU) mL<sup>−1</sup> bacteria in low-salinity buffers within 5 min, using a very simple setup. This offers perspectives for affordable pathogen sensors that can easily be reconfigured for different bacteria. Water quality testing is a particularly interesting application since it requires frequent testing, especially in emergency situations.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6374/11/2/57paper-based sensorsnitrocelluloseimpedance measurementsdielectric propertiesparallel-plate electrodesinterdigital electrodes |
| spellingShingle | Grégoire Le Brun Margo Hauwaert Audrey Leprince Karine Glinel Jacques Mahillon Jean-Pierre Raskin Electrical Characterization of Cellulose-Based Membranes towards Pathogen Detection in Water Biosensors paper-based sensors nitrocellulose impedance measurements dielectric properties parallel-plate electrodes interdigital electrodes |
| title | Electrical Characterization of Cellulose-Based Membranes towards Pathogen Detection in Water |
| title_full | Electrical Characterization of Cellulose-Based Membranes towards Pathogen Detection in Water |
| title_fullStr | Electrical Characterization of Cellulose-Based Membranes towards Pathogen Detection in Water |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electrical Characterization of Cellulose-Based Membranes towards Pathogen Detection in Water |
| title_short | Electrical Characterization of Cellulose-Based Membranes towards Pathogen Detection in Water |
| title_sort | electrical characterization of cellulose based membranes towards pathogen detection in water |
| topic | paper-based sensors nitrocellulose impedance measurements dielectric properties parallel-plate electrodes interdigital electrodes |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6374/11/2/57 |
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