Noah Baughman

Advisor: Dr. Eric Vogel

will propose a doctoral thesis entitled,

SURFACE ENGINEERING FOR ADVANCING IMMUNO- AND NANOPORE BIOSENSING

On

Friday, August 1st at 1:30 p.m. (EDT)

Pettit Microelectronics Building Room 102B

and

 Virtually via MS Teams 

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MjYxNDEyODUtN2ZhNi00Yzc2LWJkN2QtNzc2NmUzODMyM2U5%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22482198bb-ae7b-4b25-8b7a-6d7f32faa083%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22b159f277-9b80-470f-bb94-2d91dea5cfba%22%7d

Meeting ID: 235 606 532 447 1

Passcode: zx9nF3Yt

Committee

Dr. Eric Vogel – School of Materials Science and Engineering (advisor)

Dr. Katherine Young – Georgia Tech Research Institute

Dr. Peter Hesketh – School of Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Jason Azoulay – School of Materials Science and Engineering

Dr. Antonio Facchetti – School of Materials Science and Engineering

Abstract

The objective of this work is to improve the detection of bacterial and low abundance analyte by elucidating the effects of fabrication, surface engineering, and operation of electrochemical biosensors. Immuno- and electrochemical sensor engineering has made considerable progress to expand access to medical testing. However, challenges scaling these approaches continue due to the complex structure of bacteria and minimum threshold concentration required by current immunosensor designs. 

First, serological considerations for immunosensors are explored. Experimental evidence and models elucidate how serotype and lysing affect immunosensor performance. Improved sensing outcomes are experimentally demonstrated for bacterial analyte when properly accounting for these factors. Next, solid state nanopores are investigated to pursue single-molecule sensing. Nanopore fabrication and testing is performed to explore the influence of surface properties and structure on sensing outcomes. Models of nanopore sensors are further developed to provide a more accurate forecast of current response to protein translocation. Future work will investigate 2D-membrane nanopore sensors, which are expected to produce larger current responses and better sensing outcomes. Nanopore sensing data will be used to train classifiers to provide an empirical comparison of thin film and 2D-membrane sensors. To our knowledge, this is the first time whole protein differentiation in complex solution will be demonstrated using a 2D-membrane nanopore. Furthermore, the use of a classifier to empirically compare the impact of fabrication and post-processing on sensor performance will provide a direct technique to facilitate nanopore testing and development.