A piezoelectric immunosensor for the detection of α-fetoprotein using an interface of gold/hydroxyapatite hybrid nanomaterial

The ideal immobilization methods that are suitable for binding immuno-active materials with high efficiency onto the sensing surface are the key target to pursue in the current biosensor design. In this paper, a new hybrid material formed by assembling gold nanoparticles (GNP) onto nano-sized hydroxyapatite (HA) has been employed for the interface design of piezoelectric immunosensor, on which the antibodies were bound. The detection performances of the resulting immunosensor were investigated by use of the antibody–antigen model system of α-Fetoprotein (AFP), an important indicator in the diagnosis of clinical cancers. The hybrid material was characterized by the UV–vis spectroscopy, the SEM and TEM measurements. The frequency and electrochemical impedance responses characteristics for the processes of immobilization and immunoreaction of anchored anti-AFP antibodies were studied in detail. The immunoresponse of the proposed immunosensor was compared with those antibodies immobilized by using HA or GNP alone. It was found that the developed sensing interface has some advantages such as the activation-free immobilization and the high antigen-binding activities of antibodies. The as-prepared immunosensor can allow for the determination of AFP in the concentration range of 15.3–600.0 ng ml−1. Such an interface design with the nano-sized hybrid materials should be tailored as a new alternative used for biosensor design.