EAGER: PAN-VARIANT COVID-19 DIFFERENTIATED BIOSENSING USING GRAPHENE FIELD-EFFECT SENSORS

EAGER: PAN-VARIANT COVID-19 DIFFERENTIATED BIOSENSING USING GRAPHENE FIELD-EFFECT SENSORS Nontechnical: The pandemic due to COVID-19 has triggered an increasing demand for scientific research into portable fast biosensors capable of rapid infectious disease detection. With the rise of variants beyond the original COVID-19 strain, there is a need for the scientific understanding and development of biosensors that can be rapidly adapted to sense existing, emerging and new variants of the virus. This award will investigate facile, precise, multiplexed biosensors for detection of the virus from the different evolving variants based on advanced nanomaterials, namely, functionalized graphene field-effect transistors that has the potential for unprecedented sensitivity and a fast response time in a low-cost platform. Technical: This research aims to pioneer a single platform for rapid multi-variant detection based on functionalized graphene-antibody selective interaction that affords a high intrinsic limit of detection. Different variants of Covid-19 will be evaluated with the antibody-functionalized graphene field-effect sensing platform. The outcomes of this research will generate new knowledge on multi-variant biosensing, limits of detection, and cross-reactivity through structural and conceptual engineering. The sensor platform is sufficiently versatile to be adapted to detect both existing, emerging, and future variants. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.