This award supports research visits by students of Professor George Whitesides of Harvard University to Heidelberg, Germany, as part of a collaborative research project between Professor Whitesides and Professor Michael Grunze of the Department of Physical Chemistry of the University of Heidelberg. The objective of their research is to develop biosensors and biosensor arrays. The Grunze group has developed an acoustic plate mode (APM) sensor as a technique to measure antibody recognition of immobilized antigen. The Harvard group has developed several model systems of thin organic films involving adsorption of protein to self-assembled monolayers (SAM's) . SAM's are well defined model surfaces and offer unprecedented control for tailoring surfaces with a variety of delicate and complex functions. These systems will be used to test and optimize the APM sensor. The collaborators will also explore novel processes for fabricating the interdigitated electrode arrays that comprise the APM device. Building on the complementary expertise of the participating US and German research groups, this innovative research will lead to new biosensors that are robust, discriminating, inexpensive and fast. They could have a variety of practical applications in medical diagnostics, microlithography and other fields. On the fundamental level, the research should improve our understanding of the relation between molecular order and viscoelastic properties of organic monolayers.
