Mulchandani In this research the investigators will fabricate bioreceptor-functionalized conductive/conjugated polymer nanowires that are individually addressable and can be scaled to biosensor arrays. In preliminary studies it is demonstrated that their approach can detect viruses, bacteria and toxins under a variety of conditions. The technology involves electrochemical polymeration of biomolecule-friendly conductive polymers in prefabricated channels between two contact electrodes at a specific position to synthesize nanowires of known properties. The research will address sensitivity, dynamic range, detection limit, selectivity and durability of bioreceptor-functionalized conducting polymer nanowires. Insight gained from these studies could enable the design and fabrication of nanowire-based immunosensor arrays for detection of other biowarfare agents. The fact that the technology of electrodeposition operates under room temperature/pressure conditions, and enables direct deposition of conducting polymer nanowire with embedded receptor/antibody molecules and will maintain these biological molecules in an active state in one step is a positive feature.
